Francium is an alkali medal with 87 protons and 136 neutrons and 87 electrons

Francium is an element on the periodic table, this element is in the alkali metals group, making this metal part of a very reactive group. This highly reactive metal is also at the bottom of the table making it the most reactive, scientists have discovered the further down and to the left you go on the periodic table the more reactive the element.

Francium modern atomic theory

This picture represents the development of our modern atomic theory currently the latest stage is from 1926 after the Bohr model

Questions:

What is some history?

What was in our project:

Francium was discovered in France, and of course named after the country that it was discovered in. It was discovered by Marguerite Perey in 1939, in Paris at the Curie Institute.

What I can now explain and know:

Francium was discovered, as stated in the original project, in France, at the Curie Institute in Paris. Marguerite Catherine Perey had discovered it in 1939. After being discovered it had been named after the nation it had been discovered and first ever studied in by a great scientist of the time, this being the first genuine discovery after a few false discoveries from 1879 up until her great discovery of the element.

How much Francium is on Earth’s crust at any given time?

What was in our project:

Not as much as you would think, there is only ever 30g of Francium on Earth and any one time.

What I can now explain and know:

Again as stated in the project, not as much as one would think, as there is only ever around 30 grams or 1 ounce of Francium on Earth’s crust at any given time due to its short half-life.

What is Francium’s boiling point:

What was in our project:

Francium has a boiling point of 676.8 degrees Celsius.

What I can now explain and know:

Being a basic question, there isn’t much more to add on to this statement, as Francium’s boiling point is 676.8 degrees Celsius, or 677 degrees Celsius when rounded.

Where is Francium on the periodic table:

What was in our project:

Francium is an element of the Alkali Metals and is in period 7 of the periodic table.

What I can now explain and know:

As stated within the original project, Francium is an element of the Alkali Metals, The first column on the periodic table, which happens to be the grouping of the most reactive metals, and Francium sits in the 7^th period, or row, on the periodic table.

What is it’s atomic weight and density?

What was in our project:

Francium’s density of 1.873g/cm makes it a heavy element, weighing in at 223 AMU.

What I now can explain and know:

Along the way of research, I learned that Francium is a dense element, having a density of 1.873g/cm and weighing in at 223 AMU. In comparison water has a density of around 1g/cm.

What is Francium’s atomic number?

What was in our project:

After the discovery of Caesium, scientists always thought there should be another alkali metal just under it with the atomic number of 87, and then in 1939, it was discovered, and that element is Francium.

What I now can explain and know:

There isn’t much else to say or add onto what was within the project as this is a pretty basic question. It is kind of engraved in my head now though that the atomic number of Francium is 87, sort of funny how after researching something for a while, certain details get stuck in your mind.

What state would Francium usually be in?

What was in our project:

Well, as Francium’s melting point is only 27 degrees Celsius, in many normal conditions it would be a solid but in a relatively warm environment could be a liquid.

What I now can explain and know:

This does seem to be a somewhat good question as it is a kind of odd element with it’s melting point being only 27 degrees Celsius, just a bit above a regular room temperature. So if you could obtain enough Francium to say have a bowl of it or something, you could easily have a bowl or container of some sort of liquid Francium in a warm room.

How does Francium occur or ‘get created’? Naturally or synthetically?

What was in our project:

Francium, while it is a standard practice to purposely create it in a lab for observation by scientists, it can and has occurred and been found naturally.

What I now can explain and know:

Well, there is not much to add on to this, but again is a good question, as not much of it occurs at all, so it is a good question to raise about how it is made. Of course as stated in the project, it does occur naturally but it is often created in labs for basic scientific study.

What is Francium used for?

What was in our project:

Francium, due to it’s instability and it’s extreme rarity, it has absolutely no commercial uses and there would likely never be enough of it accumulated for any type of uses.

What I now can explain and know:

Francium does not have many uses, only one in fact. As it is extremely rare, unstable and radioactive, it does not have any commercial uses and it only is used and/or created for basic scientific study within a lab.

What would Francium look like?

What was in our project:

Francium has never been viewed in bulk, but it has been assumed, based off of the other elements in it’s column on the periodic table, that it would appear to be a highly metallic metal.

What I now can explain and know:

There isn’t really anything else to say or add on to this question. I have learned that it has been assumed, that it would appear to be a highly metallic metal

              What is Francium’s atomic symbol?

What was in our project:

Francium’s atomic symbol is Fr, an abbreviation of it’s name.

What I now can explain and know:

Again, not much more to add on to it, the atomic symbol is Fr, as it is an abbreviation of its name, in which comes from the country it was discovered in.

What is the melting point?

What was in our project:

Francium, although being a metal, still melts at only a low 27 degrees Celsius, meaning that if you could actually obtain enough of it, you would have liquid Francium in a warm room.

What I now can explain and know:

As this is a simple question, there isn’t much more to add, it melts at 27 degrees Celsius again meaning that it could easily be liquid in a warm environment.

 

 

 

 

 

Resources:

(ChemiCool.com, 2015) (Wikipedia, 2015)

Francium Powerpoint