technetium (Tc)

Term: technetium (Τc)

Literally meaning: “pertaining to artificial”

Origin: Anc Greek

τεχνητός/technetos(=hand made, artificial)

> τίκτω (verb)/ticto (=give birth, produce)

Coined/History 

Technetium’s existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev on the basis of periodic table before the element was discovered. The element discovered by Emilio Segre and Carlo Perrier  in Italy, in 1937 and was the first element to be produced artificially. It was found in a sample of molybdenum, which was bombarded by deuterons in the Berkeley cyclotron. All almost technetium isotopes are radioactive such as technetium-99m with a short half-life and that it binds chemically to biologically active molecules.

Definition

Technetium is a chemical element with atomic number 43 and atomic mass 98. It is found in trace amounts in nature and its main production is made synthetically.