Lining up alongside every element known to man comes a new superheavy addition simply called 117. At the extreme opposite end of the periodic table to Hydrogen, this new discovery was cooked up in a German laboratory by a team of researchers including those from The Australian National University.
Matching the heaviest atoms ever observed it is 40 per cent heavier than lead and has not been found in nature. Instead, the men in white coats fused together the nuclei (the dense centre of an atom) of several smaller atoms.
“Making element 117 is at the absolute boundary of what is possible right now,” says Professor David Hinde, Director of the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility operated by the ANU Nuclear Physics Department.
“That’s why it’s a triumph to create and identify even a few of these atoms.”
If you want to get scientific about it the press release states: “over 1019 (ten billion billion) extremely rare calcium-48 nuclei, with 20 protons and 28 neutrons, were fired at a target made of the even rarer isotope, berkelium-249, having 97 protons.”
The name 117 is only temporary as the researchers wait to see if this gains a seal of approval from IUPAC — the international body that acknowledges the creation of new elements. According to its rule should a new element be created there also needs to be an independent corroboration from another lab.
The good news is a Russian group also managed to successfully create element 117 back in 2010.
“On the basis of this paper it is likely that element 117 will be accepted,” Hinde says.
The sky’s now the limit for the ANU researchers as they look to smash even more atoms together to make even heavier creations.
“The big question is, how can we create elements 119 and 120?”
