Element identity
Element 117 identity, discovery record and known isotope/decay evidence are experimental/evaluated.
Atomic / chemical interpretation
Many chemical and electronic details are theoretical predictions in a strongly relativistic regime.
Bulk material properties
Macroscopic density, melting/boiling behavior and crystal structure are not treated as measured facts.
Temperature / phase path
The evidence-limited track does not fabricate ordinary phase transitions.
Geography
Research collaboration and naming geography are shown; natural-resource geography would be misleading.
The lens describes evidence status, not confidence theatre. “Unknown” is kept unknown, and teaching schematics are not presented as direct measurements.
Tennessine (Ts)
Tennessine is element 117, a synthetic superheavy Group 17 element known only from atom-at-a-time nuclear experiments. Its identity and decay are experimental; most ordinary bulk physical properties remain unmeasured and theoretical chemistry must include strong relativistic effects.
Tennessine atomic number, mass, electron configuration and key properties
Tennessine: quick answers
How many protons, neutrons and electrons does tennessine have?
Tennessine’s atomic number is 117, so every tennessine atom has 117 protons, and a neutral atom also has 117 electrons. Tennessine has no stable isotopes, so the number of neutrons depends on which isotope you mean.
What is the symbol for tennessine?
The chemical symbol for tennessine is Ts.
Is tennessine a solid, liquid or gas at room temperature?
Tennessine has only been made a few atoms at a time, so its state at room temperature is unknown.
What family (group) is tennessine in?
Tennessine is a halogen (predicted), in group 17, period 7 of the periodic table.
What is the electron configuration of tennessine?
The ground-state electron configuration of tennessine is [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p⁵. This is a predicted configuration; it has not been measured.
From atomic number to chemistry
Read these as a chain of causes, not as isolated facts. Each step links to the concept hub if you want the underlying idea explained.
117 protons define tennessine; a neutral atom contains 117 electrons.
This reviewed ground-state reference connects atomic structure to the element’s chemistry.
Periodic position supplies family context, but element-specific evidence and exceptions still matter.
Isotope notation separates proton identity from neutron count and nuclear behavior.
Tennessine in its period and family
Tennessine occupies Group 17 below astatine and immediately before oganesson in Period 7. The formal valence pattern is 7s²7p⁵, but strong spin-orbit and relativistic effects mean familiar halogen trends become increasingly unreliable.
Tennessine Visual Lab
Decode the tennessine tile, rotate a ²⁹⁴Ts teaching nucleus, inspect qualitative 7p/7s probability shapes, separate measured nuclear evidence from predicted chemistry and connect the element to the international research network that produced it.
Every mark points to one exact feature
The numbered markers explain the same information system used throughout Element Lookup. Unknown or predicted fields remain visibly labelled rather than being replaced with guesses.
Tennessine in one minute
Atomic number 117 is experimentally established.
Tennessine is synthetic; only tiny numbers of atoms have been produced.
The name honors Tennessee and the institutions in that region involved in the discovery collaboration.
Melting point, boiling point and bulk density are not experimentally measured.
Group 17 placement is meaningful, but predicted chemistry is strongly shaped by relativistic effects.
Shell rings organize electron counts. They are not electron trajectories or orbital shapes.
2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 32 · 18 · 7 electrons
Qualitative 7s and 7p atomic-orbital teaching views only. The nonrelativistic shapes help explain orbital labels and nodes, but for element 117 strong relativistic and spin–orbit effects make them incomplete descriptions of the real superheavy atom.
No macroscopic sample exists. The viewer is evidence-aware: measured structures are identified as such; unknown bulk structures stay unknown.
Teaching visualization; not a literal finite sample or thermal trajectory.What this model does—and does not—show
Qualitative 7s and 7p atomic-orbital teaching views only. The nonrelativistic shapes help explain orbital labels and nodes, but for element 117 strong relativistic and spin–orbit effects make them incomplete descriptions of the real superheavy atom.
Where do I meet tennessine?
Clickable learning cards connect the element to materials, environment, technology, biology or research - depending on what the evidence actually supports.
Synthesis
Tennessine is created in heavy-ion fusion experiments; there is no natural-resource industry.
Evidence ladder: what do we know directly?
For a superheavy element, nuclear evidence is much stronger than macroscopic-property evidence.
Decay-chain evidence
Element identity and isotope/decay observations are experimental.
Iodine, astatine and tennessine: extrapolation reaches its limit
Group 17 placement remains meaningful, but measured chemistry becomes sparse at astatine and atom-at-a-time at tennessine.
| Evidence | Measured bulk halogen |
|---|---|
| Valence | 5s² 5p⁵ |
| Evidence | Radioactive trace element |
|---|---|
| Valence | 6s² 6p⁵ |
| Evidence | Atom-at-a-time nuclear evidence |
|---|---|
| Valence | 7s² 7p⁵ · strong relativistic regime |
Tennessine properties: atomic, physical, thermal and chemical
Categories follow the science of this element rather than a fixed decorative template. Each row carries condition/provenance context and an evidence label; unknown values stay unknown.
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic number | 117 | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Evaluated |
| Relative atomic mass | [294] | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Evaluated |
| ²⁹⁴Ts | ~tens of ms | short-lived superheavy isotope identified through decay chains | Evaluated |
| ²⁹³Ts | ~tens of ms | short-lived isotope reported in element-117 experiments | Evaluated |
| Teaching nucleus | ²⁹⁴Ts · 117 protons + 177 neutrons | Reference isotope used in the nucleus model | Reviewed |
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground-state electron configuration | [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p⁵ | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Predicted |
| Group / period / block | Group 17 · Period 7 · p-block | Periodic-table placement | Evaluated |
| Electronegativity | Unknown | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Unknown |
| Common oxidation states | Predicted chemistry only; ordinary bulk states unmeasured | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Predicted |
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| ²⁹⁴Ts | ~tens of ms | short-lived superheavy isotope identified through decay chains | Evaluated |
| ²⁹³Ts | ~tens of ms | short-lived isotope reported in element-117 experiments | Evaluated |
| Teaching nucleus | ²⁹⁴Ts · 117 protons + 177 neutrons | Reference isotope used in the nucleus model | Reviewed |
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current use | Scientific research only | No commercial bulk use is implied. | Reviewed |
| Geography | Discovery, naming and research context only | No natural-resource map is appropriate. | Reviewed |
| Safety boundary | Non-operational educational context | No synthesis settings or material-access guidance. | Reviewed |
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Density | Unknown | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Unknown |
| Material / molecular structure | Unknown | No macroscopic sample exists | Unknown |
| Melting / transition reference | Unknown | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Unknown |
| Boiling / gas reference | Unknown | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Unknown |
| Common oxidation states | Predicted chemistry only; ordinary bulk states unmeasured | Source-reviewed; see Sources below | Predicted |
| Property | Value | Context / provenance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page evidence note | Identity, naming and decay-chain evidence are experimental. Bulk state, density, melting, boiling and ordinary chemistry are unknown or theoretical and must remain visibly labeled as such. | Evidence summary for this guide | Reviewed |
| Structure evidence | No macroscopic sample exists | Measured structure, labelled schematic, prediction or explicit unknown as applicable. | Reviewed |
| Map evidence rule | Real pins are reviewed examples; conceptual layers are used when pins would mislead. | Geography Explorer 2.0 | Reviewed |
| Source set | 4 primary/reference links listed below | Open the Sources section for the actual references. | Reviewed |
Is Tennessine a solid, liquid or gas? State at temperature
Element Lookup shows a temperature context track for tennessine but no fake melting or boiling markers. No macroscopic sample exists, so ordinary bulk phase boundaries are not experimentally established.
Where on Earth is Tennessine found or produced?
Who discovered Tennessine, and when?
The element-117 collaboration reported synthesis of nuclei attributed to the new element.
IUPAC/IUPAP evaluation accepted the discovery claim for element 117.
The name tennessine (Ts) was proposed, reviewed and formally approved by IUPAC.
Research focuses on nuclear properties, decay chains and theoretical superheavy-element chemistry.
How tennessine is studied: research overview
Specialized accelerator facilities create heavy-ion beams and prepare rare target materials.
Fusion reactions can produce a tiny number of superheavy nuclei among overwhelmingly more common non-fusion events.
Recoil separators and detectors isolate candidate products and record correlated decay chains.
Independent analysis and international evaluation are required before an element-discovery claim is accepted.
What is tennessine used for?
Research only
Tennessine has no commercial bulk use; it exists as a subject of nuclear and superheavy-element research.
Nuclear structure
Decay chains help test models of stability and shell effects in very heavy nuclei.
Relativistic chemistry
Element 117 helps probe how Group 17 behavior changes in the extreme relativistic regime.
Periodic-table limits
Its existence tests predictions about which nuclei and chemical elements can be synthesized.
Tennessine isotopes and natural abundance
²⁹⁴Ts
~tens of msshort-lived superheavy isotope identified through decay chains
²⁹³Ts
~tens of msshort-lived isotope reported in element-117 experiments
Five-question Tennessine check
What is tennessine’s atomic number?
Which periodic-table group contains tennessine?
Do we have an experimentally measured bulk melting point for tennessine?
What does the name tennessine honor?
How was the identity of element 117 established?
Tennessine questions students commonly ask
Each answer starts with the direct fact, then explains the chemistry, evidence or material context so the result is understandable rather than merely memorized.
Is tennessine a halogen?
Short answer: It occupies Group 17, the halogen column, but its actual chemistry is largely predicted and is not expected to be a simple scaled-up version of chlorine or iodine.
This guide classifies Tennessine as a superheavy synthetic group 17 element. Its periodic position is Period 7, p-block, Group 17. Tennessine occupies Group 17 below astatine and immediately before oganesson in Period 7. The formal valence pattern is 7s²7p⁵, but strong spin-orbit and relativistic effects mean familiar halogen trends become increasingly unreliable.
Key point: Periodic-table classification describes recurring atomic/chemical behavior; it does not make every element in a column physically identical.
Can you hold tennessine?
Short answer: No macroscopic sample exists. Experiments create only individual atoms/nuclei that decay rapidly.
Element Lookup shows a temperature context track for tennessine but no fake melting or boiling markers. No macroscopic sample exists, so ordinary bulk phase boundaries are not experimentally established. Tennessine is element 117, a synthetic superheavy Group 17 element known only from atom-at-a-time nuclear experiments. Its identity and decay are experimental; most ordinary bulk physical properties remain unmeasured and theoretical chemistry must include strong relativistic effects.
Key point: Use the direct answer together with the material, isotope and evidence context shown elsewhere on the page.
Why is the element called tennessine?
Short answer: The name honors Tennessee and the scientific contributions of institutions in the region to superheavy-element research.
In 2016, The name tennessine (Ts) was proposed, reviewed and formally approved by IUPAC.
Key point: Element names record scientific history; the name itself does not determine the element’s chemistry.
Do we know tennessine’s melting point?
Short answer: No. A defensible measured bulk melting point does not exist, so Element Lookup does not invent one.
Element Lookup shows a temperature context track for tennessine but no fake melting or boiling markers. No macroscopic sample exists, so ordinary bulk phase boundaries are not experimentally established.
Key point: Phase statements need temperature, pressure and evidence context.
Scientific sources for Tennessine
- IUPAC — official names of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118
- Royal Society of Chemistry — Tennessine
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory — International team discovers element 117
- IAEA / AMDC via PubChem — tennessine nuclide data
Questions to ask next about Tennessine
A good element lesson should lead to the next useful question, not end after a list of facts.
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