Going through a long journey, filled with success, failures,
and discoveries, finally the periodic table is complete. Scientists have
confirmed the discovery of four new elements which has completed the table,
filling the empty spaces. Elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118
have been discovered.
The discoveries were made in Japan, Russia, and United
States. The Japanese research team discovered the element “113”. Reportedly,
the team has got the permission to name the element, the first to be named
after an Asian scientist.
115 was discovered about a decade ago by Russian scientists
but recently Swedish scientists replicated the experiments and synthesized the
same element again. After getting confirmation from IUPAC, the element has been
added to the periodic table. A heavy unstable element, “Americium” was
bombarded with calcium atoms for days and weeks. Some of these atoms bounced
back but still some stuck to the Americium atom giving rise to a nucleus with
115 protons.
Claims of the discovery of element 118 were not entertained
back in 2002 but recently another group of researchers have claimed the
discovery of this element again.
With these discoveries the periodic table now seems to be
complete.
image credits: jm-knowledge.blogspot.com
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