• Question: How can you make francium a raw material with just its only elements

    Asked by speedmono to Alex, Amy, Andy, Georgia, Ollie on 21 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amy Reeve

      Amy Reeve answered on 11 Jun 2011:


      Hi

      Francium is an element. it is found in the periodic table, atomic number 87. Although it is an element, which means it only contains one type of atom, it is formed when radioactive elements decay. Francium is not made up of other elements.

      Francium can be made in a laboratory however, by reacting gold and oxygen. So although you can’t make Francium by combining two elements it is possible by bombarding Gold with Oxygen. This is however a different form of francium than the one found in naturally.

    • Photo: Ollie Russell

      Ollie Russell answered on 21 Jun 2011:


      Hi speedmono,

      Ive only just seen this question! I think Amy is right about how to make it! I just read something about it and apparently at any one time there are only a few grams of Francium found naturally on Earth. This is because as soon as it is made it decays into other elements! It must be the rarest natural element!

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