The 4 newest members of the periodic table were known to us earlier as Ununtrium (atomic number 113), Ununpentium (atomic number 115), Ununseptium (atomic number 117) and Ununoctium (atomic number 118). Now they will have those tongue twisting labels (given to them because of their atomic numbers), replaced with permanent names. The proposed names are Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennesine (Ts) and Oganesson (Og) in the respective order of 113, 115, 117 and 118.
The elements were recognized by the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) on 30 the of December, 2015. Their addition completed the seventh period. IUPAC invited the discoverers to propose the names of the elements giving them the necessary guidelines.
After discovering all natural elements, more elements were synthesized according to quantum chemistry. Recommendations for naming an element have been quite an issue for some time in the world of Chemistry. This was solved by the IUPAC in 2002 by enlisting a set of rules. The 4 new elements also follow them. After IUPAC decides who deserves the credit for the discovery, the discoverers receive the right to suggest a name. It is desirable that the names of elements in different languages differ as little as possible. In keeping with tradition, elements are named after a mythological concept or character (including an astronomical object); a mineral, or similar substance; a place or geographical region; a property of the element; or a scientist. The names of new element should end in “-ium.” (A 2015 proposal wants names of elements 117 and 118 to have different endings, “-ine” and “-on” respectively.) Once the discovery of the element is confirmed and before its name is approved, the element will be referred to by its number (element 118) or a provisional name (ununoctium). The final name is dependent on the IUPAC’s approval, and IUPAC has the right to disregard the discoverer. To make matters just a little complicated, when a name has been in unofficial use for a particular element, but a different name is ultimately chosen for that element, then the first name cannot be transferred for use for another element.
All of these new 4 elements are highly unstable, super heavy metals that exist for only a fraction of a second.
Ununtrium (113) is the first to be discovered in an Asian country. Professor Kosuke Morita’s group at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Science in Japan has created this by firing a beam of zinc-70 at a target made of bismuth-209. The proposed name for the element is Nihonium (Nh). ‘Nihon’ is one of the two ways to say Japan in Japanese. It literally means “Land of the Rising Sun”.
Ununpentium (115) and Ununseptium (117) were discovered by groups collaborating across three institutions, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA, and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Element 115 is proposed the name Moscovium (Mc). This is to honor the Moscow region, the ancient Russian land that is the home of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, where experiments for the discovery were conducted. Tennessine (Ts) is the name proposed for element 117, in recognition of the contribution of the Tennessee region, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, to super heavy element research.
Recognizing Professor Yuri Oganessian , for his pioneering contributions to transactinoid elements research following the tradition of honoring a scientist, the collaborating teams of discoverers at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russia) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA) who discovered the element with the atomic number 118, proposed the name Oganesson and symbol Og.
However, these names have to undergo a period of public review expiring on the 8 th 0f November 2016. If there are no complaints, we can update our good old Periodic table with its newest members, with their brand new names.
References:
http://www.sciencealert.com/the-4- newest-elements- on-the- periodic-table- have-just- been-named
http://qz.com/585741/the-strange- rules-that- dictate-how- new-elements- get-their- names/