Chemical Element: astatine
(Modern Latin: chemical element; from Greek, astatos, unstable; radioactive nonmetal)
Chemical-Element Information
Symbol: AtAtomic number: 85
Year discovered: 1940; named in 1947 at the University of California, Berkeley.
Discovered by: Emilio Gino Segrè (1905-1989), Italian physicist, Dale R. Corson, and Kenneth R. MacKenzie.
- Astatine was synthesized in 1940 by Dale Corson, Kenneth MacKenzie, and Emilio Segrè at the University of California, Berkeley, by bombarding bismuth with alpha-particles which resulted in a nuclear reaction.
- Astatine has some physiological importance because it is readily taken up by the thyroid gland as is iodine.
- In general, it resembles iodine.
Name in other languages:
French: astate
German: Astat
Italian: astato
Spanish: astato
Information about other elements may be seen at this Chemical Elements List.
A special unit about words that include chemo-, chem- may be seen here.