Smashing discovery.The periodic table of Earth's elements may soon need an extra slot. A group of researchers claims to have created a brand-new element. Scientists from California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: see Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (body) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - (LLNL) A research organaisatin operated by the University of California under a contract with the US Department of Energy. and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR (Russian: Объединённый институт ядерных in Russia said they have produced element 118. Using a particle accelerator particle accelerator, apparatus used in nuclear physics to produce beams of energetic charged particles and to direct them against various targets. Such machines, popularly called atom smashers, are needed to observe objects as small as the atomic nucleus in studies machine, the researchers smashed together calcium (Ca) and californium californium (kăl`ĭfôr'nēəm) [from California], artificially produced, radioactive metallic chemical element; symbol Cf; at. no. 98; mass no. of most stable isotope 251; m.p. about 900°C;; b.p. (Cf) at extremely high speeds. When an atom of calcium combined with an atom of californium, it produced an atom with 118 protons in its central nucleus. This isn't the first time that scientists have announced the creation of this superheavy element--which doesn't occur naturally. A 1999 claim was later withdrawn after an investigation revealed that one of the scientists involved had faked results. Before element 118 is added to the periodic table and the team is given credit for its creation, scientists at other laboratories will have to reproduce the results. |
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