Question

In 1930 the American physicist Ernest Lawrence designed the first cyclotron in Berkeley, California. In 1937 Lawrence bombarded a molybdenum target with deuterium ions, producing for the first time an element not found in nature. Starting with molybdenum-96 as your reactant, write a nuclear equation to represent this process.

Answer 1

⁹⁶₄₂Mo + ²₁H ⇒ ⁹⁸₄₃Tc

Step-by-step explanation:

During the bombardment of a molybdenum target with deuterium ions, an element not found in nature was produced.The name of the element formed in the process is technetium. It is an element with the symbol Tc, mass number of 98, and atomic number 43. The nuclear equation is shown below:

⁹⁶₄₂Mo + ²₁H ⇒ ⁹⁸₄₃Tc

Technetium is the lightest element whose isotopes are all radioactive in nature except the fully ionized state of isotope ⁹⁷Tc. It is silvery gray in color and can be found between manganese and rhenium in group seven of the periodic table.