Terakoya by CCN
Back to the Room of the Elements
107
Room of the Elements · No. 107

Bohrium (Bh): what kind of element is it?

日本語

In short

Bohrium is element number 107, with the symbol Bh. Its name comes from Niels Bohr.
Atomic number 107(272)
BhBohrium (bōriumu)
Symbol
Bh
Atomic weight
(272)
Place in the table
Period 7 · Group 7

The number in parentheses is not an atomic weight. It is the mass number of one radioactive isotope of the element.

Atomic weight from the Chemical Society of Japan, “Table of Standard Atomic Weights with Four Significant Figures (2026)”.

Elements born in Germany

In the 1980s, a German research group used a new method to make one new element after another. Elements 107 to 112 were all found in Germany.

In this method, a metal such as lead or bismuth is the target, and the nuclei of a metal heavier than chromium are fired at it, just fast enough to fuse. It was devised in 1974 by Oganessian of the Soviet Union.

Bohrium was made in West Germany (as it was then) in 1981 by smashing chromium (number 24) into bismuth (number 83). Its name was decided in 1997.

Where it sits on the table

Bohrium is in the seventh row of Group 7, at the bottom of the column with manganese, technetium and rhenium.

Think about it

There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.

Did you know? — Nihonium, made in Japan, was also made this way: zinc was fired at a bismuth target.
Next steps
About this page
Symbol and atomic weight: Chemical Society of Japan, “Table of Standard Atomic Weights (2026)” and “Table of Atomic Weights with Four Significant Figures (2026)”. Origin of the name, year of discovery, year of naming and how it was made: Wakabayashi, “Chemistry of Superheavy Elements: The Birth of Nihonium Nh and Its Surroundings,” Kagaku to Kyōiku 65(3), 2017 (Chemical Society of Japan). All sources are in Japanese.
Written by CCN CO., LTD.
PreviousNext