Officials from the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) have confirmed the
discovery of elements 113, 115, 117, and 118, announcing that there is now
enough evidence to give them permanent places on the periodic table, which
means they’ll also need new, official names.
You won’t find
these four elements in nature - they are synthetic elements that can only be
produced in the lab, and because they decay in a matter of seconds, their
existence has been extremely difficult to confirm. Until now, elements 113,
115, 117, and 118 had temporary names and positions on the seventh row of the
periodic table because scientists have struggled to create them more than once.
The three
remaining elements, 115, 117, and 118 - known temporarily as ununpentium (Uup),
ununseptium (Uus), and ununoctium (Uuo), respectively - will also get new
names.
The organisation
advises that the new elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral,
a place or country, a property, or a scientist, and will be presented for
public review for five months before a final decision about the new official
name and symbol is made.