New Elements Discovered - Completing the Periodic Table

The elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have finally been discovered.  Laboratories in Russia, the United States and Japan have made many claims over the years that they have discovered them. But it was only at the end of 2015 when the elements were finally given their permanent place in the periodic table. A group of scientific experts at The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, announced the group’s conclusions on 30 December 2015.

The four elements were made in the lab, by colliding lighter atomic nuclei together. The unstable agglomerations of protons and neutrons lasted mere fractions of a second before they fell apart into smaller, more stable fragments.

Each of the teams have been given recognition for their great findings which means that now, they can put forward proposals  to name the new elements and assign them their two-letter symbols. A new element can be named after a range of things including; their chemical or physical properties, a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, or a scientist. 

Click here to read more about who gets to name the new elements!