What is Technetium?
Technetium is a metallic chemical element which does not appear naturally, because it has no stable isotope. It bears the distinction of being the first synthetically produced element, after a great deal of experimentation by scientists who predicted its presence on the basis of the order of the periodic table of elements. Consumers generally do not interact with technetium, since it is radioactive, although it is used as a radioactive tracer for some medical tests, so people with certain illnesses may be familiar with it. In appearance, technetium looks almost like platinum, with a bright, silvery gray color. In moist air, the element will slowly oxidize, and it needs to handled carefully because of its radioactivity. Technetium will also dissolve in certain substances, such as nitric or sulfuric acids. It is identified on the periodic table with the symbol Tc, and it has an atomic number of 43, placing it between molybdenum and ruthenium. The history of the element is rather complex.
Radioactive metallic transition element. Can be detected in some stars and the fission products of uranium. First made by Perrier and Segre by bombarding molybdenum with deutrons, giving them Tc-97. Tc-99 is the most stable isotope with a half-life of 2.6*10^6 years. Sixteen isotopes are known. Organic technetium compounds are used in bone imaging. Chemical properties are intermediate between rhenium and manganese.
