Atomic number 114 · Post-transition metal
Flerovium Fl
Flerovium is a superheavy element named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Russia. It sits in group 14 below carbon, silicon, germanium, tin and lead. Because it lies near the theorised 'island of stability', it has long fascinated nuclear physicists.
Key properties
| Atomic number | 114 |
|---|---|
| Atomic weight | [290] (No stable isotope; mass number of a representative isotope in brackets) |
| Category | Post-transition metal |
| Group | 14 |
| Period | 7 |
| Block | p |
| State (25 °C, 1 atm) | Solid (Predicted) |
| Melting point | — |
| Boiling point | — |
| Density | — |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | — |
| Atomic radius (van der Waals) | — |
| First ionization energy | — |
| Electron affinity | — |
| Oxidation states | 6, 4,2, 1, 0 |
| Discovered | 1998 |
Electron configuration
- Condensed
- [Rn]7s2 7p2 5f14 6d10
- Full
- 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f14 6s2 6p6 6d10 7s2 7p2
- Electrons per shell
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 32 · 18 · 4
Orbital diagram
Electron configurations of some superheavy elements (beyond 103) are theoretical predictions.
Position in the table
Discovery
In December 1998 Yuri Oganessian's team at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna bombarded a plutonium-244 target with calcium-48 ions and detected a single atom of element 114, publishing the result in 1999. Working afterwards with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, they identified further isotopes. This 'hot fusion' method, pairing neutron-rich calcium-48 beams with actinide targets, became the key to discovering elements 114 through 118.
IUPAC recognised the discovery in 2011 and approved the name flerovium on 30 May 2012, alongside livermorium for element 116.
Origin of the name
The name honours the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna and its founder, the Soviet physicist Georgy Flerov, who discovered spontaneous fission of uranium and led much of the Soviet superheavy element programme. The symbol is Fl.
Main uses
- Basic research: It has no uses outside science.
- Island of stability: A proton number of 114 was long predicted to be 'magic', conferring extra stability. The isotopes actually observed live longer than their neighbours, partly supporting that idea.
- Chemistry: Single-atom experiments found flerovium surprisingly volatile for a group 14 element. Whether relativistic effects make it behave more like an inert element than a metal is still under investigation.
Isotopes
There are no stable isotopes. The longest-lived confirmed isotope, flerovium-289, has a half-life of about two seconds; an unconfirmed flerovium-290 may last about 19 seconds. The more neutron-rich flerovium-298 is predicted to lie near the centre of the island of stability but has not been made.
In everyday life
It does not exist in nature; only a few atoms at a time are made in accelerators and they decay almost immediately, so it has no connection with daily life or health.
Good to know
- Flerovium was first reported from a single atom detected in late 1998.
- It proved unexpectedly volatile for a member of group 14.
- Elements 114 and 116 were named on the same day in 2012.
Same group (14)
Data sources · Properties: PubChem Periodic Table (US NIH/NLM public data) · Atomic weights: CIAAW 2024 abridged standard atomic weights · Names: Wikidata (CC0); Korean names follow the Korean Chemical Society. Retrieved 2026-09-23.