Editing Atom (section)

==== Superheavy elements ====
{{Main|Superheavy element}}

All nuclides with atomic numbers higher than 82 ([[lead]]) are known to be radioactive. No nuclide with an atomic number exceeding 92 ([[uranium]]) exists on Earth as a [[primordial nuclide]], and heavier elements generally have shorter half-lives. Nevertheless, an "[[island of stability]]" encompassing relatively long-lived isotopes of superheavy elements<ref name=cern28509 /> with atomic numbers [[darmstadtium|110]] to [[flerovium|114]] might exist.<ref name=KarpovSHE>{{cite journal|last1=Karpov|first1=A. V.|last2=Zagrebaev|first2=V. I.|last3=Palenzuela|first3=Y. M.|last4=Ruiz|first4=L. F.|last5=Greiner|first5=W.|title=Decay properties and stability of the heaviest elements|journal=International Journal of Modern Physics E|date=2012|volume=21|issue=2|pages=1250013-1–1250013-20<!-- Deny Citation Bot-->|doi=10.1142/S0218301312500139|url=http://nrv.jinr.ru/karpov/publications/Karpov12_IJMPE.pdf|bibcode=2012IJMPE..2150013K|display-authors=3|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=3 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203230540/http://nrv.jinr.ru/karpov/publications/Karpov12_IJMPE.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Predictions for the half-life of the most stable nuclide on the island range from a few minutes to millions of years.<ref name=physorg>{{cite web |url=http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2009/09/24/114-confirmed/ |title=Superheavy Element&nbsp;114 Confirmed: A Stepping Stone to the Island of Stability |date=2009 |publisher=[[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory|Berkeley Lab]] |access-date=24 March 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720200414/https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2009/09/24/114-confirmed/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In any case, superheavy elements (with ''Z''&nbsp;>&nbsp;104) would not exist due to increasing [[Coulomb]] repulsion (which results in [[spontaneous fission]] with increasingly short half-lives) in the absence of any stabilizing effects.<ref name=liquiddrop>{{cite journal |last=Möller |first=P. |date=2016 |title=The limits of the nuclear chart set by fission and alpha decay |journal=EPJ Web of Conferences |volume=131 |pages=03002-1–03002-8<!-- Deny Citation Bot--> |url=http://inspirehep.net/record/1502715/files/epjconf-NS160-03002.pdf |doi=10.1051/epjconf/201613103002 |bibcode=2016EPJWC.13103002M |doi-access=free |access-date=24 March 2020 |archive-date=11 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311130852/http://inspirehep.net/record/1502715/files/epjconf-NS160-03002.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>