Before it was discovered, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted this element would have properties similar to manganese and thus gave it the provisional name “eka-manganese.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this first synthetic element, created in 1937 by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè. This element’s “99m” isotope was discovered after bombarding molybdenum in a cyclotron.
ANSWER: technetium [or Tc; accept technetium-99m or 99mTc]
[10e] Technetium’s “99m” isotope is used as a tracer in medical imaging because it has this property, allowing it to emit detectable gamma rays. Isotopes with this property are unstable and decay with a defined half-life.
ANSWER: radioactive [accept word forms like radioactivity; accept radioactive decay; accept radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes or radioactive nuclides or radionuclides; accept radioactive tracers]
[10m] Technetium dissolves in this fuming mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, whose Latin name was derived from its ability to dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum.
ANSWER: aqua regia (Aqua regia is Latin for “royal water.”)
<Edinburgh B, Chemistry>