Editing Copernicium (section)

==Isotopes==
{{Main|Isotopes of copernicium}}
{{Isotopes summary
|element=copernicium
|reaction ref=<ref name=thoennessen2016>{{Thoennessen2016|pages=229, 234, 238}}</ref>
|isotopes=
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=277 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|0.79|0.79 ms}} |ref={{NUBASE2020|ref}}
|dm=α |year=1996 |re=<sup>208</sup>Pb(<sup>70</sup>Zn,n)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=280 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|0| <0.1 ms}} |ref=<ref name=jinr2024>{{Cite web |url=https://indico.jinr.ru/event/4343/contributions/28663/attachments/20748/36083/U%20+%20Cr%20AYSS%202024.pptx |title=Synthesis and study of the decay properties of isotopes of superheavy element Lv in Reactions <sup>238</sup>U + <sup>54</sup>Cr and <sup>242</sup>Pu + <sup>50</sup>Ti |last=Ibadullayev |first=Dastan |date=2024 |website=jinr.ru |publisher=[[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] |access-date=2 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref>
|dm=SF |year=2024 |re=<sup>288</sup>Lv(—,2α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=281 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|180|0.18 s}} |ref=<ref name=PuCa2017>{{cite journal |last1=Utyonkov |first1=V. K. |last2=Brewer |first2=N. T. |first3=Yu. Ts. |last3=Oganessian |first4=K. P. |last4=Rykaczewski |first5=F. Sh. |last5=Abdullin |first6=S. N. |last6=Dimitriev |first7=R. K. |last7=Grzywacz |first8=M. G. |last8=Itkis |first9=K. |last9=Miernik |first10=A. N. |last10=Polyakov |first11=J. B. |last11=Roberto |first12=R. N. |last12=Sagaidak |first13=I. V. |last13=Shirokovsky |first14=M. V. |last14=Shumeiko |first15=Yu. S. |last15=Tsyganov |first16=A. A. |last16=Voinov |first17=V. G. |last17=Subbotin |first18=A. M. |last18=Sukhov |first19=A. V. |last19=Karpov |first20=A. G. |last20=Popeko |first21=A. V. |last21=Sabel'nikov |first22=A. I. |last22=Svirikhin |first23=G. K. |last23=Vostokin |first24=J. H. |last24=Hamilton |first25=N. D. |last25=Kovrinzhykh |first26=L. |last26=Schlattauer |first27=M. A. |last27=Stoyer |first28=Z. |last28=Gan |first29=W. X. |last29=Huang |first30=L. |last30=Ma |date=30 January 2018 |display-authors=3 |title=Neutron-deficient superheavy nuclei obtained in the <sup>240</sup>Pu+<sup>48</sup>Ca reaction |journal=Physical Review C |volume=97 |issue=14320 |page=014320 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.97.014320|bibcode=2018PhRvC..97a4320U|doi-access=free }}</ref>
|dm=α |year=2010 |re=<sup>285</sup>Fl(—,α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=282 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|0.83|0.83 ms}} |ref=<ref name=PuCa2022/>
|dm=SF |year=2003 |re=<sup>290</sup>Lv(—,2α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=283 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|3810|3.81 s}} |ref=<ref name=PuCa2022/>
|dm=α, SF, EC? |year=2003 |re=<sup>287</sup>Fl(—,α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=284 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|121|121 ms}} |ref=<ref name=280Ds2021>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.032503|title = Spectroscopy along Flerovium Decay Chains: Discovery of <sup>280</sup>Ds and an Excited State in <sup>282</sup>Cn|journal = Physical Review Letters|volume = 126|pages = 032503|year = 2021|last1 = Såmark-Roth|first1 = A.|last2 = Cox|first2 = D. M.|last3 = Rudolph|first3 = D.|last4 = Sarmento|first4 = L. G.|last5 = Carlsson|first5 = B. G.|last6 = Egido|first6 = J. L.|last7 = Golubev|first7 = P|last8 = Heery|first8 = J.|last9 = Yakushev|first9 = A.|last10 = Åberg|first10 = S.|last11 = Albers|first11 = H. M.|last12 = Albertsson|first12 = M.|last13 = Block|first13 = M.|last14 = Brand|first14 = H.|last15 = Calverley|first15 = T.|last16 = Cantemir|first16 = R.|last17 = Clark|first17 = R. M.|last18 = Düllmann|first18 = Ch. E.|last19 = Eberth|first19 = J.|last20 = Fahlander|first20 = C.|last21 = Forsberg|first21 = U.|last22 = Gates|first22 = J. M.|last23 = Giacoppo|first23 = F.|last24 = Götz|first24 = M.|last25 = Hertzberg|first25 = R.-D.|last26 = Hrabar|first26 = Y.|last27 = Jäger|first27 = E.|last28 = Judson|first28 = D.|last29 = Khuyagbaatar|first29 = J.|last30 = Kindler|first30 = B.| issue=3 | pmid=33543956 | bibcode=2021PhRvL.126c2503S | s2cid=231818619 |display-authors = 3|doi-access = free|hdl = 10486/705608|hdl-access = free}}</ref>
|dm=α, SF |year=2004 |re=<sup>288</sup>Fl(—,α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=285 |sym=Cn |hl={{sort|30000|30 s}} |ref={{NUBASE2020|ref}}
|dm=α |year=1999 |re=<sup>289</sup>Fl(—,α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=285m |sym=Cn{{efn|name=nc}} |hl={{sort|15000|15 s}} |ref={{NUBASE2020|ref}}
|dm=α |year=2012 |re=<sup>293m</sup>Lv(—,2α)
}}
{{isotopes summary/isotope
|mn=286 |sym=Cn{{efn|name=nc|This isotope is unconfirmed}} |hl={{sort|8450|8.45 s}} |ref=<ref name="Kaji">{{cite journal |last1=Kaji |first1=Daiya |last2=Morita |first2=Kosuke |first3=Kouji |last3=Morimoto |first4=Hiromitsu |last4=Haba |first5=Masato |last5=Asai |first6=Kunihiro |last6=Fujita |first7=Zaiguo |last7=Gan |first8=Hans |last8=Geissel |first9=Hiroo |last9=Hasebe |first10=Sigurd |last10=Hofmann |first11=MingHui |last11=Huang |first12=Yukiko |last12=Komori |first13=Long |last13=Ma |first14=Joachim |last14=Maurer |first15=Masashi |last15=Murakami |first16=Mirei |last16=Takeyama |first17=Fuyuki |last17=Tokanai |first18=Taiki |last18=Tanaka |first19=Yasuo |last19=Wakabayashi |first20=Takayuki |last20=Yamaguchi |first21=Sayaka |last21=Yamaki |first22=Atsushi |last22=Yoshida |date=2017 |title=Study of the Reaction <sup>48</sup>Ca + <sup>248</sup>Cm → <sup>296</sup>Lv* at RIKEN-GARIS |journal=Journal of the Physical Society of Japan |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=034201–1–7 |doi=10.7566/JPSJ.86.034201 |bibcode=2017JPSJ...86c4201K}}</ref>
|dm=SF |year=2016 |re=<sup>294</sup>Lv(—,2α)
}}}}
Copernicium has no stable or naturally occurring isotopes. Several radioactive isotopes have been synthesized in the laboratory, either by fusing two atoms or by observing the decay of heavier elements. Eight different isotopes have been reported with mass numbers 277 and 280–286, and one unconfirmed [[nuclear isomer|metastable isomer]] in <sup>285</sup>Cn has been reported.<ref name="gsi12">{{cite journal |doi=10.1140/epja/i2012-12062-1 |volume=48 |issue=5 |pages=62 |title=The reaction <sup>48</sup>Ca + <sup>248</sup>Cm → <sup>296</sup>116<sup>*</sup> studied at the GSI-SHIP |journal=The European Physical Journal A| year=2012 |last1=Hofmann |first1=S. |last2=Heinz |first2=S. |last3=Mann |first3=R. |last4=Maurer |first4=J. |last5=Khuyagbaatar |first5=J. |last6=Ackermann |first6=D. |last7=Antalic |first7=S. |last8=Barth |first8=W. |last9=Block |first9=M. |last10=Burkhard |first10=H. G. |last11=Comas |first11=V. F. |last12=Dahl |first12=L. |last13=Eberhardt |first13=K. |last14=Gostic |first14=J. |last15=Henderson |first15=R. A. |last16=Heredia |first16=J. A. |last17=Heßberger |first17=F. P. |last18=Kenneally |first18=J. M. |last19=Kindler |first19=B. |last20=Kojouharov |first20=I. |last21=Kratz |first21=J. V. |last22=Lang |first22=R. |last23=Leino |first23=M. |last24=Lommel |first24=B. |last25=Moody |first25=K. J. |last26=Münzenberg |first26=G. |last27=Nelson |first27=S. L. |last28=Nishio |first28=K. |last29=Popeko |first29=A. G. |last30=Runke |first30=J. |last31=Saro |first31=S. |last32=Shaughnessy |first32=D. A. |last33=Leino |first33=M. |last34=Lommel |first34=B. |last35=Moody |first35=K. J. |last36=Münzenberg |first36=G. |last37=Stoyer |first37=M. A. |last38=Thörle-Pospiech |first38=P. |last39=Tinschert |first39=K. |last40=Trautmann |first40=N. |last41=Uusitalo |first41=J. |last42=Wilk |first42=P. A. |last43=Yeremin |first43=A. V. | display-authors=3 | bibcode=2012EPJA...48...62H| s2cid=121930293}}</ref> Most of these decay predominantly through alpha decay, but some undergo [[spontaneous fission]], and copernicium-283 may have an [[electron capture]] branch.<ref name="nuclidetable">
{{cite book
|last1=Holden
|first1=N. E.
|year=2004
|chapter=Table of the Isotopes
|editor=D. R. Lide
|title=CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
|at=[https://archive.org/details/crchandbookofche81lide/page/ Section 11]
|edition=85th
|publisher=[[CRC Press]]
|isbn=978-0-8493-0485-9
|title-link=CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
}}</ref>

The isotope copernicium-283 was instrumental in the confirmation of the discoveries of the elements [[flerovium]] and [[livermorium]].<ref>{{cite journal
|last1=Barber
|first1=R. C.
|year=2011
|title=Discovery of the elements with atomic numbers greater than or equal to 113
|url=https://pac.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2011/pdf/8307x1485.pdf
|journal=[[Pure and Applied Chemistry]]
|volume=83
|issue=7
|pages=5–7
|doi=10.1351/PAC-REP-10-05-01
|s2cid=98065999
|display-authors=etal
|access-date=2022-02-22
|archive-date=2016-03-04
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084257/http://pac.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2011/pdf/8307x1485.pdf
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

===Half-lives===
All confirmed copernicium isotopes are extremely unstable and radioactive; in general, heavier isotopes are more stable than the lighter, and isotopes with an [[even and odd atomic nuclei|odd neutron number]] have relatively longer half-lives due to additional hindrance against [[spontaneous fission]]. The most stable known isotope, <sup>285</sup>Cn, has a half-life of 30&nbsp;seconds; <sup>283</sup>Cn has a half-life of 4&nbsp;seconds, and the unconfirmed <sup>285m</sup>Cn and <sup>286</sup>Cn have half-lives of about 15 and 8.45&nbsp;seconds respectively. Other isotopes have half-lives shorter than one&nbsp;second. <sup>281</sup>Cn and <sup>284</sup>Cn both have half-lives on the order of 0.1&nbsp;seconds, and the remaining isotopes have half-lives shorter than one millisecond.<ref name="nuclidetable" />  It is predicted that the heavy isotopes <sup>291</sup>Cn and <sup>293</sup>Cn may have half-lives longer than a few decades, for they are predicted to lie near the center of the theoretical [[island of stability]], and may have been produced in the [[r-process]] and be detectable in [[cosmic ray]]s, though they would be about 10<sup>−12</sup> times as abundant as [[lead]].{{sfn|Zagrebaev|Karpov|Greiner|2013|pp=1–15}}

The lightest isotopes of copernicium have been synthesized by direct fusion between two lighter nuclei and as [[decay product]]s (except for <sup>277</sup>Cn, which is not known to be a decay product), while the heavier isotopes are only known to be produced by decay of heavier nuclei. The heaviest isotope produced by direct fusion is <sup>283</sup>Cn; the three heavier isotopes, <sup>284</sup>Cn, <sup>285</sup>Cn, and <sup>286</sup>Cn, have only been observed as decay products of elements with larger atomic numbers.<ref name="nuclidetable" />

In 1999, American scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, announced that they had succeeded in synthesizing three atoms of <sup>293</sup>Og.<ref name="Ninov1999">{{cite journal
|last1=Ninov
|first1=V.
|year=1999
|title=Observation of Superheavy Nuclei Produced in the Reaction of {{SimpleNuclide|Krypton|86}} with {{SimpleNuclide|Lead|208}}
|journal=[[Physical Review Letters]]
|volume=83
|issue=6
|pages=1104–1107
|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.1104
|bibcode=1999PhRvL..83.1104N
|display-authors=etal
|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1233919
|access-date=2018-11-04
|archive-date=2023-07-18
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718161424/https://zenodo.org/record/1233919
|url-status=live
}}</ref> These parent nuclei were reported to have successively emitted three alpha particles to form copernicium-281 nuclei, which were claimed to have undergone alpha decay, emitting alpha particles with decay energy 10.68&nbsp;MeV and half-life 0.90&nbsp;ms, but their claim was retracted in 2001<ref>{{Cite news
|author       = Public Affairs Department
|date         = 21 July 2001
|title        = Results of element 118 experiment retracted
|url          = https://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/118-retraction.html
|publisher    = [[Berkeley Lab]]
|access-date   = 2008-01-18
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080129191344/https://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/118-retraction.html
|archive-date = 29 January 2008
|url-status   = dead
}}</ref> as it had been based on data fabricated by Ninov.<ref name="NYT20021015">[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/science/at-lawrence-berkeley-physicists-say-a-colleague-took-them-for-a-ride.html?scp=2&sq=victor%20ninov&st=cse&pagewanted=1 "At Lawrence Berkeley, Physicists Say a Colleague Took Them for a Ride"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815020439/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/15/science/at-lawrence-berkeley-physicists-say-a-colleague-took-them-for-a-ride.html?scp=2&sq=victor%20ninov&st=cse&pagewanted=1 |date=2023-08-15 }} George Johnson, ''The New York Times'', 15 October 2002</ref> This isotope was truly produced in 2010 by the same team; the new data contradicted the previous fabricated data.<ref name="281Cn">{{Cite news
|author=Public Affairs Department
|date=26 October 2010
|title=Six New Isotopes of the Superheavy Elements Discovered: Moving Closer to Understanding the Island of Stability
|url=https://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2010/10/26/six-new-isotopes
|publisher=[[Berkeley Lab]]
|access-date=2011-04-25
|archive-date=2011-05-08
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508121130/http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2010/10/26/six-new-isotopes/
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

The missing isotopes <sup>278</sup>Cn and <sup>279</sup>Cn are too heavy to be produced by cold fusion and too light to be produced by hot fusion.{{sfn|Zagrebaev|Karpov|Greiner|2013|pp=1–15}} They might be filled from above by decay of heavier elements produced by hot fusion,{{sfn|Zagrebaev|Karpov|Greiner|2013|pp=1–15}} and indeed <sup>280</sup>Cn and <sup>281</sup>Cn were produced this way.<ref name=jinr2024/><ref name=281Cn/> The isotopes <sup>286</sup>Cn and <sup>287</sup>Cn could be produced by charged-particle evaporation, in the reaction <sup>244</sup>Pu(<sup>48</sup>Ca,α''x''n) with ''x'' equalling 1 or 2.<ref name=Yerevan2023PPT>{{cite conference |url=https://indico.jinr.ru/event/3622/contributions/20021/attachments/15292/25806/Yerevan2023.pdf |title=Interesting fusion reactions in superheavy region |first1=J. |last1=Hong |first2=G. G. |last2=Adamian |first3=N. V. |last3=Antonenko |first4=P. |last4=Jachimowicz |first5=M. |last5=Kowal |conference=IUPAP Conference "Heaviest nuclei and atoms" |publisher=Joint Institute for Nuclear Research |date=26 April 2023 |access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref><ref name=pxn>{{cite journal |last1=Hong |first1=J. |last2=Adamian |first2=G. G. |last3=Antonenko |first3=N. V. |date=2017 |title=Ways to produce new superheavy isotopes with ''Z''&nbsp;=&nbsp;111–117 in charged particle evaporation channels |journal=Physics Letters B |volume=764 |pages=42–48 |doi=10.1016/j.physletb.2016.11.002 |bibcode=2017PhLB..764...42H|doi-access=free }}</ref>