Lv · Element 116 · Post-transition metal
Made by fusing calcium-48 with curium-248, and decays within milliseconds.
Structure
Not a diagram of dots on rings — a Monte-Carlo sample of the actual probability density |ψ|² for each occupied subshell. Drag to rotate. Blue and violet mark opposite signs of the wavefunction, which is what makes bonding possible.
Measured values
Every bar shows where livermorium sits among all 118 elements for that property.
Sources: IUPAC 2021 standard atomic weights · CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · NIST. Values marked ~ are predicted rather than measured.
Same element, different neutrons
All livermorium atoms have the same number of protons, 116, and differ only in their number of neutrons: those variants are its isotopes. None of them is stable. The longest-lived known isotope, Lv-293, has 177 neutrons and a half-life of 95 ms.
| ISOTOPE | Neutrons | Natural Abundance | Half-life | Decay Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lv-290 | 174 | — | 8.3 ms | α, SF |
| Lv-291 | 175 | — | 19 ms | α, SF |
| Lv-292 | 176 | — | 12.8 ms | α, SF |
| Lv-293 longest-lived | 177 | — | 95 ms | α, SF |
Here the classroom shortcut, rounded atomic mass (293) minus atomic number, gives the same answer: 177.
Decay modes
Data: IAEA Nuclear Data Section, LiveChart of Nuclides, ground-state evaluations, retrieved October 10, 2026. Abundance is the share of atoms in the natural element; a dash means the isotope has no standard natural abundance.
Size, to scale
Radius 247 pm — that is 0.247 nm, so about 2.02 million of them side by side would span a millimetre.
Thermal range
Livermorium is liquid over a 412 K window, from 623 K to 1035 K.
The story
Made by fusing calcium-48 with curium-248, and decays within milliseconds.
Russian Nuclear Physics Excellence: Livermorium discovery represents another triumph of Russian superheavy element research, achieved by an international team led by Yuri Oganessian at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, continuing Russia's leadership in pushing the periodic table's boundaries.
Six-Year Research Campaign: The livermorium discovery required six years of systematic experimentation from 2000 to 2006, involving continuous refinement of synthesis techniques, target preparation methods, and sophisticated particle detection systems to achieve reproducible results.
International Cooperation: While led by JINR, the discovery involved collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States, demonstrating how shared expertise and resources enable breakthrough achievements in fundamental science.
Technical Breakthroughs: Creating livermorium required developing improved ion beam focusing systems, enhanced target cooling techniques, and more sensitive particle identification methods that advanced the entire field of superheavy element research.
IUPAC Recognition: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially recognized JINR's discovery in 2011, granting the team naming rights. "Livermorium" honors Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their crucial contributions to superheavy element research.
Scientific Significance: Livermorium's discovery provided important validation of theoretical predictions about superheavy element synthesis pathways and contributed crucial data about nuclear stability in the superheavy element region.
Global Impact: The achievement strengthened international cooperation in nuclear physics and demonstrated how advanced scientific facilities can achieve remarkable breakthroughs through sustained effort, technological innovation, and collaborative research.
Applications
Superheavy Element Decay Studies: Livermorium provides crucial data about alpha decay patterns and nuclear stability in the superheavy element region. Its isotopes live only tens of milliseconds (livermorium-293 about 95 ms), so decay studies rely on single decay chains.
Island of Stability Research: As element 116, livermorium occupies a strategic position approaching the theorized island of stability where superheavy elements might exist for extended periods. Research focuses on understanding nuclear shell effects that could lead to enhanced stability.
Relativistic Chemistry Exploration: Livermorium offers unique opportunities to study how relativistic effects influence chemical bonding in superheavy elements. Theoretical predictions suggest it might behave similarly to polonium but with significant deviations due to relativistic orbital contractions.
Advanced Nuclear Instrumentation: Creating livermorium drives development of sophisticated particle detection systems, ion beam technologies, and data analysis methods that benefit multiple scientific fields including medical physics and materials research.
International Scientific Collaboration: Livermorium research exemplifies global cooperation in fundamental science, with teams from Russia, the United States, and other nations sharing resources and expertise to push the boundaries of human knowledge.
Theoretical Model Validation: Livermorium provides experimental data to test quantum mechanical models of atomic structure, particularly theories about electron orbital behavior under very high nuclear charges and relativistic conditions.
Future Technology Foundation: Understanding livermorium's properties contributes to the long-term scientific goal of discovering stable superheavy elements that might transform technology in ways currently beyond imagination.
Particle Accelerator Synthesis: Livermorium exists only within specialized nuclear physics facilities equipped with powerful cyclotrons and linear accelerators. Creating livermorium requires weeks of continuous bombardment to produce individual atoms, making each synthesis scientifically significant.
Nuclear Decay Analysis: Scientists use livermorium to study alpha decay chains and spontaneous fission processes, providing insights into the fundamental forces governing atomic nuclei and nuclear stability mechanisms.
Computational Chemistry Testing: Livermorium serves as a benchmark for theoretical predictions about superheavy element chemistry, particularly models suggesting unusual chemical behavior due to relativistic electron effects.
Advanced Detection Development: Livermorium identification requires the most sophisticated particle detection systems available, driving innovation in nuclear instrumentation that benefits broader scientific research and technology development.
Scientific Training Platform: Livermorium experiments provide invaluable training opportunities for nuclear physicists and graduate students, advancing human expertise in superheavy element science and nuclear research techniques.
International Research Exchange: Livermorium studies facilitate collaboration between world-leading nuclear physics laboratories, fostering knowledge sharing and technological advancement across national boundaries.
Where it comes from
0 mg/kg of Earth's crust · more abundant than 0% of elements
No Natural Occurrence: Livermorium has never been found in nature. Its 116-proton nucleus is far too unstable to survive in nature.
Laboratory Creation Only: Every known livermorium atom has been artificially created through nuclear fusion reactions in particle accelerators. The usual process bombards curium-248 targets with calcium-48 ions; in 2024 Berkeley Lab also made two atoms of livermorium-290 by firing titanium-50 at plutonium-244 for 22 days.
Cosmic Absence: It is an open question whether the r-process in neutron star mergers briefly makes livermorium nuclei; none could survive. The element's short half-life ensures rapid decay before any possible detection.
Specialized Facility Dependency: Livermorium has been produced only in advanced nuclear research installations like the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia and GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Germany, representing humanity's most sophisticated nuclear physics capabilities.
Nuclear Instability Origins: Livermorium's synthetic nature results from fundamental nuclear physics principles. As atomic number increases, electromagnetic repulsion between protons increasingly overwhelms the strong nuclear force, preventing natural nuclear stability.
Future Synthesis Developments: While improved accelerator technologies might enhance livermorium production efficiency, the element will remain synthetic due to its inherent nuclear instability and rapid radioactive decay characteristics.
Handling
Livermorium is radioactive. It has no stable isotope — every nucleus decays. Handling requires appropriate shielding and licensing.
Atom-by-Atom Production: Livermorium is made a few atoms at a time in heavy-ion accelerators. Only single atoms have ever been made, and no weighable amount has ever existed.
Half-Lives: Its isotopes decay mainly by alpha emission, with half-lives of about 0.1 second or less (livermorium-293, the longest-lived, about 95 milliseconds).
No Meaningful Dose: Alpha particles cannot penetrate the outer layer of skin and could damage tissue only from inside the body, and single atoms are far too few to deliver any meaningful dose.
Where the Hazards Are: The hazards in this research come from the experiment, not the element: the accelerator beam, radioactive targets and activated equipment, and the waste these produce, which is managed as radioactive waste under national radiation protection rules.
Worker Protection: Staff follow the standard occupational radiation rules: annual dose limits, personal dose monitoring and keeping doses as low as reasonably achievable. Workers under 18 face much lower dose limits than adults: one tenth of the adult limits under US Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules (10 CFR 20.1207), and 1 mSv a year at US Department of Energy laboratories (10 CFR 835.207). A worker who declares a pregnancy is limited to 5 mSv to the fetus over the whole pregnancy (10 CFR 20.1208 and 835.206).
Quick answers
Livermorium (symbol Lv) is element 116 on the periodic table, a post-transition metal in period 7, group 16. Made by fusing calcium-48 with curium-248, and decays within milliseconds. At room temperature it is expected to be a solid, and it is radioactive.
[Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s² 7p⁴, giving 7 occupied shells with the distribution 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 6. Its outer shell holds 6 electrons, which is what sets its bonding behaviour.No sample of livermorium has ever been condensed, so both figures are calculated rather than measured: it is predicted to melt at 623 K (349.9 °C) and boil at 1035 K (761.9 °C).
Livermorium has no stable isotope, so it has no standard atomic weight. The figure quoted, 293, is the mass number of its longest-lived known isotope.
Livermorium has no stable isotope. Its longest-lived known isotope, Lv-293, has 177 neutrons (mass number 293 minus atomic number 116) and a half-life of 95 ms. The classroom shortcut, rounded atomic mass (293) minus atomic number, gives the same 177.
Livermorium is predicted to have a density of about 12.9 g/cm³, though no sample large enough to weigh has ever been made. Water is 1.0 g/cm³ for comparison.
Livermorium was discovered in 2000 by JINR Dubna & Livermore. Origin of the name: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Livermorium does not occur naturally on Earth in any meaningful quantity — it is made in a reactor or an accelerator.
Yes. Livermorium has no stable isotope — every one of its nuclei decays. It does not occur in usable quantities in nature and must be synthesised.