Element Facts
SYMBOL
Hs
ATOMIC NO.
108
ATOMIC WEIGHT
269
CATEGORY
Transition Metal
PERIOD
Period 7
GROUP
Group 8
Background
Hassium was first synthesised in 1984 at GSI Darmstadt by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg and their team, by bombarding lead-208 with iron-58 ions. Named after Hassia — the Latin name for Hesse, the German state in which GSI is located — confirmed by IUPAC in 1997. In 2002, researchers at GSI successfully studied the chemical properties of hassium by converting it to hassium tetroxide, confirming it behaves like osmium (its lighter group-8 homologue), validating relativistic quantum mechanical models.
Industrial Uses
Hassium has no practical applications. The 2002 chemical experiments represent the most significant hassium research to date. It is studied to understand relativistic effects on group-8 chemistry.
Scrap Viability
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Hassium:
Hassium’s most stable known isotope has a half-life of approximately 9 hours (hassium-269 or 270). It exists as individual atoms in particle accelerators and exists for only a few hours before decaying. No commercial application or scrap trade is possible.
What It's Worth
No commercial market. Cannot be produced in macroscopic quantities.