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| Dmitri 'Periodic' Mendeleev (Public Domain) |
Periodically, new elements are discovered. Such is the case with numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 (all of which shall remain somewhat nameless until future notice).
Science News tells us that the addition of these four elements to row seven means that there are no seats left at the main table. Newcomers may henceforth be relegated to f-block place settings.
Although Russia and the United States don’t always play nicely with one another, they did successfully collaborate in the discoveries of elements 115, 117 and 118. As for 113? Thank Japan.
So how did these international teams achieve such wonders? Not a
problem. They simply slammed lighter nuclei together and tracked “the decay of the radioactive superheavy elements that followed.”
Certainly this is a lot better than slamming radioactive bombs into one another. It allows for a future in which to discover even more of Earth’s secrets.
Resources
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/four-elements-earn-permanent-seats-periodic-table
Copyright January 3, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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