Philosophy
A few months to wait for a definitive name and the debate continues.
What's in a name?
That all depends on who's doing the naming. In the world of heavy-element synthesis, the folks at GSI, the Center for Heavy-Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany, have done a heck of a lot of element naming. To date, they’ve come up with five monikers. Now they’re working on number six. The GSI team headed by Sigurd Hofmann just proposed to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC, the official keeper of chemistry names) that element 112 should be called copernicium and abbreviated Cp. The team decided to name the element in honor of Nicolaus Copernicus, the radically forward-thinking 16th century astronomer who, in GSI’s words, "paved the way for our modern view of the world," by figuring out that earth orbits the sun, not the other way around. IUPAC has to give its stamp of approval for the name to become official. That process might take about 6 months.
The Darmstadt group has already had the pleasure of dreaming up names for elements 107 (bohrium); 108 (hassium); 109 (meitnerium); 110 (darmstadtium); and 111 (roentgenium). The group actually discovered element 112 some thirteen years ago. But IUPAC officially confirmed their discovery just a few months ago.
For fun, after learning that IUPAC gave the nod to GSI for discovering element 112—and the privilege of naming that superheavy element, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry World blog invited readers to propose names of their own for the short-lived bugger.
Readers had a field day. They came up with helvetium, emergencium, darwinium, zlatan, terrorismus, fibonaccium, and bloodymindium. One reader suggested ledzeppelinium, "because it's a heavy metal" the entry said. Which reminds me… Almost 25 years ago when I worked for the chemistry department at Cleveland State prepping the undergrad analytical lab, I set out a waste-collection bottle labeled "for heavy-metal types like Zeppelin, Sabbath, and AC/DC." Besides the T.A., maybe two kids found it funny.
I kind of like the ledzeppelinium idea. But copernicium certainly has a nice ring to it. Anyhow, as one of the other Chemistry World bloggers noted, "Anything's better than ununbium."
A discussion among chemists...
Copernicium?
- Ununseptium...element #117
"Scientists Confirm The Existence Of Element 117" by Alex Knapp May 3rd, 2014 Forbes The official Periodic Table of the Elements is one step closer to adding element 117 to its ranks. That’s thanks to an international team of scientists that was...
- Superheavy Element 113?
"Japanese Physicists Claim Clinching Observation of New Superheavy Element" by Daniel Clery September 26th, 2012 Science The claim sounds simple enough: Physicists in Japan say they have made a new superheavy atom, element 113, which lies at the...
- Proposed Names For The Two New Elements
"Names Proposed for 2 New Elements on Periodic Table" by Kenneth Chang December 1st, 2011 The New York Times Add two names to the periodic table of elements, although you may want to write them in pencil for now. The International Union of Pure and...
- Element 112..."copernicium"?
Not a "done deal" yet...merely a suggestion. "Copernicus nominated for the select club of elemental scientists" The discoverers of element 112, the newest addition to the periodic table, want it named after the 15th century astronomer who had the audacity...
- Periodic Table...#112 Is Official
Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany is the hot bed for discovering and confirming new elements. On November 9th, 1994 the first atom with atomic number 110 was discovered...later confirmed and named in 2003 as Darmstatdium;...
Philosophy
Element #112=Copernicium [Cp]--maybe
A few months to wait for a definitive name and the debate continues.
"Element 112’s Likely To Be Called Copernicium"
by
Mitch Jacoby
July 16th, 2009
Chemical & Engineering News
by
Mitch Jacoby
July 16th, 2009
Chemical & Engineering News
What's in a name?
That all depends on who's doing the naming. In the world of heavy-element synthesis, the folks at GSI, the Center for Heavy-Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany, have done a heck of a lot of element naming. To date, they’ve come up with five monikers. Now they’re working on number six. The GSI team headed by Sigurd Hofmann just proposed to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC, the official keeper of chemistry names) that element 112 should be called copernicium and abbreviated Cp. The team decided to name the element in honor of Nicolaus Copernicus, the radically forward-thinking 16th century astronomer who, in GSI’s words, "paved the way for our modern view of the world," by figuring out that earth orbits the sun, not the other way around. IUPAC has to give its stamp of approval for the name to become official. That process might take about 6 months.
The Darmstadt group has already had the pleasure of dreaming up names for elements 107 (bohrium); 108 (hassium); 109 (meitnerium); 110 (darmstadtium); and 111 (roentgenium). The group actually discovered element 112 some thirteen years ago. But IUPAC officially confirmed their discovery just a few months ago.
For fun, after learning that IUPAC gave the nod to GSI for discovering element 112—and the privilege of naming that superheavy element, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry World blog invited readers to propose names of their own for the short-lived bugger.
Readers had a field day. They came up with helvetium, emergencium, darwinium, zlatan, terrorismus, fibonaccium, and bloodymindium. One reader suggested ledzeppelinium, "because it's a heavy metal" the entry said. Which reminds me… Almost 25 years ago when I worked for the chemistry department at Cleveland State prepping the undergrad analytical lab, I set out a waste-collection bottle labeled "for heavy-metal types like Zeppelin, Sabbath, and AC/DC." Besides the T.A., maybe two kids found it funny.
I kind of like the ledzeppelinium idea. But copernicium certainly has a nice ring to it. Anyhow, as one of the other Chemistry World bloggers noted, "Anything's better than ununbium."
A discussion among chemists...
Copernicium?
Element 112..."copernicium"?
- Ununseptium...element #117
"Scientists Confirm The Existence Of Element 117" by Alex Knapp May 3rd, 2014 Forbes The official Periodic Table of the Elements is one step closer to adding element 117 to its ranks. That’s thanks to an international team of scientists that was...
- Superheavy Element 113?
"Japanese Physicists Claim Clinching Observation of New Superheavy Element" by Daniel Clery September 26th, 2012 Science The claim sounds simple enough: Physicists in Japan say they have made a new superheavy atom, element 113, which lies at the...
- Proposed Names For The Two New Elements
"Names Proposed for 2 New Elements on Periodic Table" by Kenneth Chang December 1st, 2011 The New York Times Add two names to the periodic table of elements, although you may want to write them in pencil for now. The International Union of Pure and...
- Element 112..."copernicium"?
Not a "done deal" yet...merely a suggestion. "Copernicus nominated for the select club of elemental scientists" The discoverers of element 112, the newest addition to the periodic table, want it named after the 15th century astronomer who had the audacity...
- Periodic Table...#112 Is Official
Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany is the hot bed for discovering and confirming new elements. On November 9th, 1994 the first atom with atomic number 110 was discovered...later confirmed and named in 2003 as Darmstatdium;...