• Question: What will happen if you mix radon with citric acid and lawrencium

    Asked by IzzyClifton to Jo on 6 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Jo Sadler

      Jo Sadler answered on 6 Mar 2015:

      Hi Izzy

      First off – not much lawrencium has ever been made, so I don’t think anyone knows for certain what would happen if you mixed it with acid.

      However, we can look at how other similar elements react with acid and use that to make a decent guess!

      If you look at the periodic table, lutetium (Lu) is directly above it and so you’d expect similar properties. Lu reacts (it gets oxidised) with acid in water to make hydrogen gas and Lu(3+) salts in solution. So I think maybe something similar would happen with Lr to give you Lr(3+) + H2 + citrate salts!

      Hope that helps 🙂

      Jo

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