Hede.io Entry: Feynmanium

Feynmanium (Fy) is a hypothetical chemical element with atomic number 137. On the transuranium extended periodic table of chemical elements element 137 should be in the superactinide series.

Feynmanium is a nickname and not yet an official designation for element 137. The current temporary name for element 137 is untriseptium (Uts). Untriseptium is a systematic element name derived from the digits 137; where "un-" is the Latin unum meaning "one", "tri-" from "tres" meaning "three" and "sept-" from Greek "hepta" or Latin "septua", both of which mean seven.

Feynmanium is named after American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman who used the relativistic Dirac equation to argue that the ground-state energy of the innermost electrons of an atom of element 137 would have to exceed the velocity of light in order for the atom to remain stable. Since electrons can't move faster than light, Feynman reasoned, element 137 should be the end of the periodic table. Feynman's equation though assumes the atomic nucleus is pointlike and doesn't take into account quantum effects or the strong and weak nuclear force.

Element 137 is impossible to produce using current technology. It may become possible through advances in femtotechnology.


Photo Source: periodictableofelements.wikia.com


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