• Question: how was the really long names on the periodic table like ununtrium and ununquadium created/found?

    Asked by Seán Kelly to Triona, Simone, Kieran, Julia, Hugh, Emily on 11 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Hugh Manning

      Hugh Manning answered on 11 Nov 2018:


      The majority of the periodic table contains elements found naturally on Earth – up to around atomic number 92. Heavier elements are created in one of a few very special labs, scientists fire 1 type of atom in a particle accelerator into a target made from another type of atom millions and millions of times, these atoms need to be chosen very carefully so that there’s a small chance that these two atoms will fuse together and form a new element. The problem is that this newly created element decays or breaks apart into smaller elements very very quickly! (1 second to a millisecond). We currently don’t have a way to stabilize these super heavy elements, and it takes a really really long time to make a small amount of them. The lab that creates this new element can suggest a name for it!

      Here’s a great video from one of my favourite youtube channels on making new elements!

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