Element 117 – a new super-heavy element

Atoms of a new super-heavy element — the as-yet-unnamed element 117 — have reportedly been created by scientists in Germany, moving it closer to being officially recognized as part of the standard periodic table.

Researchers at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located in Darmstadt, Germany, say they have created and observed several atoms of element 117, which is temporarily named ununseptium.

Ununseptium is the superheavy artificial chemical element with temporary symbol Uus and atomic number 117. The element, also known as eka-astatine or simply element 117, is the second-heaviest of all the elements that have been created so far and is the second-to-last element of the 7th period of the periodic table.

Its discovery was first announced in 2010—synthesis was claimed in Dubna, Russia, by a joint Russian-American collaboration, thus making it the most recently discovered element. Another experiment in 2011 created one of its daughter isotopes directly, partially confirming the results of the discovery experiment, and the original experiment was repeated successfully in 2012.

In 2014, the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany also claimed the production of element 117. However, the IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP), which is in charge of examining claims of discovery of superheavy elements, has made no comment yet on whether the element can be recognized as discovered. Once it is so recognized, it may receive a permanent name which will be suggested for the element by its discoverers; “ununseptium” is a temporary systematic element name that is intended to be used before a permanent one is established.

It is commonly called “element 117” by researchers and in the literature instead of “ununseptium”.

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