The transfermium elements are those elements with atomic numbers greater than 100, the atomic number for fermium. The transfermium elements are grouped together for a number of reasons. First, they are all prepared artificially. None occur in the Earth's crust (none, at least, have ever been discovered). Second, they are very difficult to create. In fact, no more than a few atoms of some transfermium elements have been created so far. Third, very little is known about the transfermium elements because so few of their atoms are available for study.

Still, the transfermium elements are of great interest to chemists and physicists because they help answer some fundamental questions about the periodic table. Scientists want to know if there is a limit to how heavy a chemical element can be and whether some of the very heavy elements are stable. They also want to know what the...