Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

What was the first element to be produced artificially?

  1. Technetium

  2. Molybdenum

  3. Protactinium

  4. Meitnerium
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Explanation

Technetium (atomic number 43) was the first element to be produced artificially in 1937 by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè. All naturally occurring technetium on Earth comes from spontaneous fission of uranium-238 or from cosmic ray interactions. It was named from the Greek 'technetos' meaning 'artificial.' Molybdenum (42) and Protactinium (91) occur naturally, while Meitnerium (109) was synthesized much later in 1982.

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