4 new elements to periodic table .. Seventh row complete

[Lance]

From New Scientist

TIME to rip up those posters of the periodic table. Four new elements now complete its seventh row.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics have recognised the discoveries of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118. They are the handiwork of teams in Japan, Russia and the US, who smashed lighter nuclei together. The resulting superheavy elements exist for only a fraction of a second before decaying into lighter atoms.

Their discoverers will be invited to propose names for these elements, based on mythology or the names of minerals, places, properties of the element, or scientists. For now, they have placeholder names and symbols: ununtrium (Uut), ununpentium (Uup), ununseptium (Uus) and ununoctium (Uuo).

The last time new elements made the grade was in 2011, with the addition of flerovium (114) and livermorium (116) to the periodic table.

“The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row,” said Jan Reedijk, president of IUPAC’s inorganic chemistry division.

The creation of superheavy elements puts theories of atomic structure to the test, and might one day produce stable elements with odd properties.

[tekmantwo]

That's interesting, incomplete, but interesting. ..

There is one I would add--

Unobtanium (Unot)

but, due to its very nature, so far scientists have still not been able to examine any samples...

[bohemian]

Ununoctium

There is a campaign to have this one named Lemmium after the heavy metal star Alan "Lemmy" Kilminster who died in December after a many decade career with Motorhead.

[On the huh]

If they only exist for a fraction of a second, then what is the point of them?

 

If Jehovah did not see the need to create these elements, why do we.

[Dustparticle]

If they only exist for a fraction of a second, then what is the point of them?

 

If Jehovah did not see the need to create these elements, why do we.

 

 That is a very good point. Yet, Jehovah has given us ability to do this. Yes, we have a mind the will be totally open in the NW and we as humans will event and do a lot.

[carlos]

If they only exist for a fraction of a second, then what is the point of them?

 

If Jehovah did not see the need to create these elements, why do we.

 

Depending on their place on the table, elements have certain properties that follow a pattern. If our understanding of those patterns is correct, it's possible to foretell which properties a new element will have. When those elements which are not found in nature are produced by man, some of their properties can be confirmed or denied, therefore polishing our understanding of the patterns.

 

In a way those experiments help us obtain a deeper insight in the way things are built, to get inside the Creator's mind to a degree.

 

I understand though those who think the effort and funds put into those tests are not really worth it, if they have no practical application.

[ChocoBro]

Just a question, is nuclear mass also relative to gravity of the planets? Would such radioactive particles be able to sustain themselves in regions in space where there is less mass? Or is it the mere size of the nucleus that causes this instability?

 

I never personally got what the point of the last few dozen elements on the table were, for me they only existed  in the minds of human scientists.

[Friends just call me Ross]

 

Ecclesiastes 8:17 Then I considered all the work of the true God, and I realized that mankind cannot comprehend what happens under the sun. No matter how hard men try, they cannot comprehend it. Even if they claim that they are wise enough to know, they cannot really comprehend it.

 

[Tortuga]

That's interesting, incomplete, but interesting. ..

There is one I would add--

Unobtanium (Unot)

but, due to its very nature, so far scientists have still not been able to examine any samples...

Maybe they can invent an Avatar to find some...

[Lance]

Gravity has nothing to with it on quantum scales...

These substances may exist in exploding stars... The half lives of these synthetic elements are from milliseconds to hours and weeks..

The nucleus on heavy elements get very crowded ..

So you have cohesion which is short range and electro static force is long range..

The balance of these two creates a stable environment..

It is like handling a handful of jelly or picking up a huge quantity and expecting it to stay together...

Edited January 12, 2016 by TheDoorGuy

[carlos]

Just a question, is nuclear mass also relative to gravity of the planets? Would such radioactive particles be able to sustain themselves in regions in space where there is less mass? Or is it the mere size of the nucleus that causes this instability?

 

I never personally got what the point of the last few dozen elements on the table were, for me they only existed  in the minds of human scientists.

 

Gravity doesn't have anything to do with it. The reason why those synthetic elements have short lives is that they are very radioactive so they quickly become something else. When scientists say they don't exist in nature they actually mean they don't exist on earth, but they may exist in other places, such as star cores. Many more radioactive elements probably existed at some point on earth too, but since they have relatively short lives they disappeared a long time ago.

 

The nucleus of an atom is composed of protons and neutrons. The number of protons defines which element it is and which properties it has. For example: if it has one proton, it's hydrogen. If it has two, it's helium; and so on.

 

Protons have a positive electric charge. But do you remember what happens between particles with the same charge? They repel each other. So protons tend to repel one another. Then, why do they stay together in the nucleus? Because there exists a more powerful force named strong nuclear force that keeps them together. This is one of the four fundamental forces in the universe known by scientists.

 

Now imagine an atom of one of those elements with a really high number of protons in its nucleus, for example uranium that has 92 protons, each one of them repeling all others. Such a big number of protons struggling to separate from each other produces such a big amount of energy that sometimes it exceeds the power of strong nuclear force that keeps them tied together. In those cases, a couple formed by a proton and a neutron escape the nucleus (that is known as an alpha particle). Sometimes it's a different particle which is emitted, such as a beta or a gamma particle.

 

What happens when an atom loses one neutron? It becomes a different element, with different properties, remember? If the nucleus still has too much energy, it will keep losing protons and transforming itself into different elements until it becomes stable. Uranium, for example, ultimately becomes plumb.

 

Now imagine those newly discovered elements with 114, 115 or even 118 protons in their nuclei! They quickly expel their excess protons and become a simpler element. Some have a lifespan of only a few microseconds. Probably some of those elements are produced occasionally in the nuclear reactions in star cores, but they quickly become something else.