It Is Chemistry: New Elements Named And Added To Periodic Table

First Posted: Dec 02, 2016 02:30 AM EST

Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts) and Oganesson (Og) -- these are the proposed names for elements 113, 115, 117 and 118, which had been unnamed, despite being synthesized in the years 2002 to 2010.

However, it was not until December 2015 that the discoveries were officially recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry -- the gatekeepers of the study itself. The scientists who discovered the super heavy, highly reactive elements then sent the IUPAC the suggested names.

It took five months of waiting as the public is allowed to ask questions regarding the new elements. Finally, as The New York Times reported, all four of them were approved on Nov. 30 and were given their own places in Chemistry's fundamental table.

But what are the four elements? Here are their names and origins:

Nihonium (113) was proposed by Japanese researchers from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science. Nihon translates to "Japan," which means that, yes, they named the element after the Land of the Rising Sun. The element was created on August 2012 after the scientists collided zinc nuclei together in a thin bismuth layer.

Moscovium (115) and Tennessine (117) are named by a team of Russian and American scientists, after Moscow and Tennessee, respectively. The element names honored the regions where experiments are linked to their creation.

Finally, Oganesson (118) was the only element in the four not named after a place. In fact, it was named after Yuri Oganessian, who is a Russian prolific element hunter. According to Live Science, Oganessian is known for his contributions in transactinide elements research -- including the development of elements with the numbers 104 to 120.

There is no limit to the number of protons that can be placed into an atomic nucleus. But now that the seventh row of the periodic table is complete, it is time to look even further, to the eighth row, which should consist of even heavier elements than the recently named four.