Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Another four bricks in the wall

Of all the things humans can bestow names upon, new chemical elements are about the rarest. Our group of periodic table experts attempts to read the tea leaves and predict the names for elements 113, 115, 117 and 118.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Discovery and assignment of elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 IUPAC (30 December 2015); http://go.nature.com/CVKFXa

  2. New kids on the p-block The Sceptical Chymist (26 January 2016); http://go.nature.com/F4Tzks

  3. Koppenol, W. H., Corish, J., García-Martínez, J., Meija, J. & Reedijk, J. How to Name New Chemical Elements (IUPAC, 2016); http://go.nature.com/ZcsrVJ

    Google Scholar 

  4. Karola, P. J., Barber, R. C., Sherrill, B. M., Vardaci, E. & Yamazaki, T. Pure Appl. Chem. 88, 139–153 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Karola, P. J., Barber, R. C., Sherrill, B. M., Vardaci, E. & Yamazaki, T. Pure Appl. Chem. 88, 155–160 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Discovery of the new chemical elements with numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (6 January 2016); http://go.nature.com/MMJ7dT

  7. Advancing the frontiers of nuclear physics RIKEN Research (2007); http://go.nature.com/bdcORU

  8. Zingales, R. J. Chem. Educ. 82, 221–227 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Tatsumi, K. & Corish, J. Pure Appl. Chem. 82, 753–755 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ball, P. Nature 529, 129 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Haustein, M. Chemie Unserer Zeit 45, 398–405 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Allison, F., Murphy, E. J., Bishop, E. R. & Sommer, A. L. Phys. Rev. 37, 1178–1180 (1931).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Leigh-Smith, A. & Minder, W. Nature 150, 767–768 (1942).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Thornton, B. F. & Burdette, S. C. Bull. Hist. Chem. 35, 86–96 (2010).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Seaborg, G. T. Radiochim. Acta 70, 69–90 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Thornton, B. F. & Burdette, S. C. Nature Chem. 5, 350–352 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kim, D.-W. Yoshio Nishina: Father of Modern Physics in Japan. (CRC Press, 2007).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Oganessian, Y. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 337, 012005 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Barber, R. C. et al. Pure Appl. Chem. 65, 1757–1814 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Thornton, B. F. & Burdette, S. C. Nature Chem. 6, 652–652 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Pure Appl. Chem. 66, 2419–2421 (1994).

  22. Ninov, V. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 1104–1107 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hoffman, D. C., Ghiorso, A. & Seaborg, G. T. The Transuranium People: the Inside Story (World Scientific, 2000).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. Kenna, B. J. Chem. Educ. 39, 436–442 (1962).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Scerri, E. A Tale of Seven Elements (Oxford Univ. Press, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hamer, R. Science 61, 208–209 (1925).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Rayleigh, L. & Ramsay, W. Proc. R. Soc. A 57, 265–287 (1894).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Chadwick, J. Nature 129, 312 (1932).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Offereins, M. in European Women in Chemistry (eds Apotheker J. & Sarkadi, L. S.) 107–110 (Wiley-VCH, 2011).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Orna, M. V. J. Chem. Educ. 86, 1364 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Meitner, L. & Frisch, O. R. Nature 143, 239–240 (1939).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Rayner-Canham, G. & Zheng, Z. Found. Chem. 10, 13–18 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Feynman, R. P. Phys. Rev. 74, 1430–1438 (1948).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Pascual, D. A. C. Quimica 1 (Umbral, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shawn C. Burdette.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Burdette, S., Ball, P., Day, K. et al. Another four bricks in the wall. Nature Chem 8, 283–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2482

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2482

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing