What is Tennessine?
{{Not to be confused with|Tennessee}} {{infobox tennessine}} '''Tennessine''' is a radioactive [[superheavy element|superheavy]] man-made [[chemical element]]. It has a [[Chemical symbol|symbol]] '''Ts''' and [[atomic number]] of 117. It is the second heaviest element of all, and is the second to last element. It is in [[Group 17 element|group 17]] in the [[periodic table]], where the [[halogens]] are. Its properties are not yet fully known but it is probably a [[metalloid]]. The discovery of tennessine was announced in 2010 by scientists in [[Russia]] and the [[United States]]. They [[collaboration|collaborated]] and it is the most recently discovered element as of 2019. It is named after the state of Tennessee and it has no uses except research. == History == ===Before discovery=== In 2004, the [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] (JINR) team in [[Dubna]], [[Moscow Oblast]], [[Russia]] planned an [[experiment]] to create element 117. To do this, they needed to [[Nuclear fusion|fuse]] the elements [[berkelium]] (element 97) and [[calcium]] (element 20). However, the [[United States|American]] team at [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], the only producer of berkelium in the world, had stopped making berkelium for a while. So, they created the [[Ununoctium|element 118]] first using [[californium]] (element 98) and [[calcium]]. The Russian team wanted to use berkelium because the [[isotope of calcium]] used in the experiment, [[calcium-48]], has 20 [[proton|protons]] and 28 [[neutron|neutrons]]. This is the lightest stable or almost stable [[Atomic nucleus|nucleus]] (the center of an atom) with much more neutrons than protons. [[Zinc-68]] is the second-lightest nucleus of this kind, but it is heavier than calcium-48. Since tennessine has 117 protons, they need another atom with 97 protons to be combined with the calcium atom, and berkelium has 97 protons. In the experiment, the berkelium is made into a target and the calcium is fired in the form of a [[beam]]{{Disambiguation needed|date=February 2022}} to t