Astatine electronic structure

Figure 3.14 Chlorine, bromine, and iodine (left to right) all belong to group VIIA(17) of the periodic table. Their atoms all have the same number of electrons in the valence shell and therefore similar chemical properties. However, they do not have similar appearances. At room temperature and under normal atmospheric pressure, chlorine is a pale yellow gas, bromine is a dark red liquid that readily changes into a gas, and iodine is a gray-black solid that changes into a purple gas when heated slightly. Astatine is the next member of the group after iodine. Try to think like Mendeleev and predict its color and whether it will be a liquid, solid, or gas under normal conditions. Electronic Structure and the Periodic Law 91...

During World War II, more work was done on the elements, particularly as part of the Manhattan Project. After the war, the existence of these new elements was made public. All of the naturally occurring elements from hydrogen to uranium, including the small number of artificially created but low-number elements francium, astatine, and promethium, had been found and put into the periodic table. Combined with the work of Rutherford and Bohr, this work made the physical structure of the atom clear and proved beyond all doubt. Even if physics would start to find smaller parts within the electron, the neutron, and the proton, from a chemical point of view, the atom was complete. Atoms and molecules had been shown to be real, they way they combined was... 

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