Researchers
from Lund University in Sweden confirmed a new element created by
slamming atoms of one element, calcium, into atoms of another called
americium.
The newly formed element vanished quickly in a flash of radiation that scientists could measure.
That flash,
or "fingerprint," confirmed the existence of an element with 115
protons at its center. That would give it the atomic number of 115 on
the periodic table, the list of all elements known to humanity.
The Swedes
were the second group of scientists to create the element. A group of
Russian scientists put together the same type of atom in 2004.
The Swedish scientists have not given element 115 a name yet.
Until they
do, it has a temporary name: "Ununpentium." That may be harder to
memorize than "element 115," but it is a scientific term made from Latin
and Greek that basically means 1-1-5.
The newly formed element vanished quickly in a flash of radiation that scientists could measure.
That flash,
or "fingerprint," confirmed the existence of an element with 115
protons at its center. That would give it the atomic number of 115 on
the periodic table, the list of all elements known to humanity.
The Swedes
were the second group of scientists to create the element. A group of
Russian scientists put together the same type of atom in 2004.
The Swedish scientists have not given element 115 a name yet.
Until they
do, it has a temporary name: "Ununpentium." That may be harder to
memorize than "element 115," but it is a scientific term made from Latin
and Greek that basically means 1-1-5.
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