---
title: "Darmstadtium (Ds) — element 110"
description: "Darmstadtium is element 110, symbol Ds, most stable isotope 281. Configuration, properties, uses and neighbours."
url: https://atoneplace.net/element/darmstadtium/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Darmstadtium (Ds)

**Darmstadtium — element 110: Ds**

[281] · Transition metal · period 7, group 10

Darmstadtium sits directly below platinum, and if a lump of it could exist it would probably look and behave much like it — dense, unreactive, catalytic. Nobody will find out: only a few dozen atoms have ever been made, and the longest-lived isotope lasts about fourteen seconds. GSI Darmstadt found elements 107 through 112 in the space of fifteen years, which is why three of them are named for the laboratory, its state and its country.

## Properties

- **Atomic number:** 110
- **Symbol:** Ds
- **Mass number of most stable isotope:** [281]
- **Category:** Transition metal
- **Group:** 10
- **Period:** 7
- **Block:** d-block
- **Electron configuration:** [Rn] 7s² 5f¹⁴ 6d⁸
- **Electrons per shell:** 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 16, 2
- **Oxidation states:** +8, +6, +4, +2, 0
- **Discovered:** 1994 by Sigurd Hofmann, Peter Armbruster and colleagues at GSI Darmstadt

## Electron configuration

- **Full:** 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6p⁶ 7s² 5f¹⁴ 6d⁸
- **Noble gas shorthand:** [Rn] 7s² 5f¹⁴ 6d⁸
- **Shells:** K: 2 · L: 8 · M: 18 · N: 32 · O: 32 · P: 16 · Q: 2

## What it is used for

- Research only; no application outside the laboratory

## Hazards

- Intensely radioactive; exists only as individual atoms in an accelerator

> Melting point, boiling point, density and electronegativity are omitted. The electron configuration is calculated, not observed, and some calculations favour 6d⁹ 7s¹ instead. The mass given is the mass number of darmstadtium-281, the longest-lived at roughly 14 seconds.

> Several physical properties are not listed for darmstadtium because no bulk sample has ever existed. Only a handful of atoms have been produced, often with half-lives measured in seconds, so published melting points and densities for elements in this range are calculations rather than measurements. They are omitted rather than presented as observed values.

## Neighbours in the table

| Z | Element | Symbol | Mass |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 108 | Hassium | Hs | [269] |
| 109 | Meitnerium | Mt | [278] |
| 110 | Darmstadtium ← | Ds | [281] |
| 111 | Roentgenium | Rg | [282] |
| 112 | Copernicium | Cn | [285] |

## Group 10

Elements in the same group share their outer electron count, which is why they behave similarly in reactions. Darmstadtium sits in group 10 with nickel, palladium, platinum.

## Common questions

### What is the atomic number of darmstadtium?

110. That is the number of protons in its nucleus, which is what defines the element.

### What is the symbol for darmstadtium?

Ds.

### What is the electron configuration of darmstadtium?

1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6p⁶ 7s² 5f¹⁴ 6d⁸, or [Rn] 7s² 5f¹⁴ 6d⁸ in noble-gas shorthand.

## Related pages

- [Hassium (Hs)](https://atoneplace.net/element/hassium/)
- [Meitnerium (Mt)](https://atoneplace.net/element/meitnerium/)
- [Roentgenium (Rg)](https://atoneplace.net/element/roentgenium/)
- [Copernicium (Cn)](https://atoneplace.net/element/copernicium/)
- [Nickel (Ni)](https://atoneplace.net/element/nickel/)
- [Palladium (Pd)](https://atoneplace.net/element/palladium/)
- [Platinum (Pt)](https://atoneplace.net/element/platinum/)

## Sources

- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)