It has just arrived on the periodic table , and it already boasts of being the heaviest member of the family. Element 112 , discovered by German, Finnish, Russian and Slovak scientists, is waiting for scientists to name it.
The new element has been obtained with the help of a particle accelerator by a team of 21 scientists coordinated by the German Sigurd Hofmann, from the Center for Research on Heavy Ions (GIS), making zinc and lead atoms collide. The result of the fusion is an atom with a nucleus of 112 protons, the sum of the two original elements, and approximately 277 times heavier than hydrogen , which makes it the heaviest element in the periodic table. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (UICPA) has given researchers six months to find a name for the new element.
Since 1981, Professor Hofmann's team has created five other elements that did not exist in the natural state: Bohrio, Hassio, Meitnerio, Darmstadtio and Roentgenio .
