So far, 2010 has been an exciting year for chemists, and it’s only April. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced the name chosen for the human-made element formerly known as ununbium. That’s element number 112 on the Periodic Table of the Elements and its symbol was Uub. By the way, the name and symbol were derived from the Latin version of the element’s atomic number, 112. The element’s formal name is copernicium and its symbol is Cn. The IUPAC made the announcement on February 19, which was the 537th anniversary of the birth of Nicolas Copernicus, for whom the element was named.
Although the IUPAC makes the final decision, it gives the first researchers to produce a new element the honor of proposing its name. Many of the human-made elements are named after famous scientists. For example: Es, element 99, einsteinium, after Albert Einstein; Sg, element 160, seaborgium, after Glenn Seaborg, an American physicist. Other human-made elements are named for the place where they were discovered. For example: Bk, element 97, berkelium, after Berkley, California, where it was first produced; Db, element 106, Dubnium, after Dubna in Russia, where it was first produced; Ds, element 110, darmstatium, after Darmstadt, Germany, where it was first produced.
On April 7, a team of Russian and American scientists announced the production of element 117. For now, element 117 will be known as ununseptium and its symbol will be Uus. In a particle accelerator located about 75 miles north of Moscow, scientists produce the six atoms of the new element by smashing together isotopes of calcium (atomic number 20) and berkelium (atomic number 97). Until the discovery is confirmed by other labs, the IUPAC will not give element 117 a formal name. Uus falls below astatine in the Periodic Table of the Elements, which makes it part of Group 17, the halogens.
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