Atoms of a new
super-heavy element — the as-yet-unnamed element 117 — have reportedly been
created by scientists in Germany, moving it closer to being officially
recognized as part of the standard periodic table.
Researchers at the
GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located
in Darmstadt, Germany, say they have created and observed several atoms of
element 117, which is temporarily named ununseptium.
Element 117 —
so-called because it is an atom with 117 protons in its nucleus — was
previously one of the missing items on the periodic table of elements. These
super-heavy elements, which include all the elements beyond atomic number 104,
are not found naturally on Earth, and thus have to be created synthetically
within a laboratory.
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