New Element Joins Periodic Table

Experiments confirm existence of super-heavy Element 112
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2009 3:01 AM CDT
New Element Joins Periodic Table
The periodic table now has 112 elements.   (Shutter Stock)

The periodic table of elements will soon gain a new—and the heaviest known—element, the BBC reports. Element 112 was first discovered over a decade ago and its existence has now been confirmed after extensive experiments. Authorities have temporarily named it "ununbium," and its German discoverers have been tasked with giving it a permanent name.

Element 112, which is 227 times the atomic weight of hydrogen, is the latest "super-heavy" element to be added to the table. The German scientists who found it have been competing with scientists in the US, Russia, and Japan for decades to add newer, heavier elements to the table. They believe that with modern particle accelerators, the table could soon go as high as 120.
(More science stories.)

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