7th Row of Periodic Table Deemed Obsolete, 4 New Elements Officially Added

The highest gatekeepers of Chemistry have officially accepted the new names of the four elements added to the Periodic Table of Elements. Washington Post reports thay four new elements were announced by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

After a five-month review, the chemists at IUPAC have approved the names for the four superheavy elements set to be added to the periodic table. These elements numbered 113, 115, 117, and 118 were all created in labs. The elements were first synthesized between 2002 and 2010. However, it wasn't until 2015 that the IUPAC recognized their discovery.

Given the tradition of naming the elements, these should honor a place, a scientist, or a region. The four new elements and the history of their naming is as follows:

Element 113: Nihonium (Nh), which is derived from the Japanese word Nihon meaning Japan.

Element 115: Moscovium (Mc), which was named after Moscow as the team who discovered it was a group of Russian scientists.

Element 117: Tennessine (Ts), which was named after the state Tennessee.

Element 118: Oganesson (Og), which was named after Yuri Oganessian, a renowned element hunter.

"Overall, it was a real pleasure to realize that so many people are interested in the naming of the new elements, including high-school students, making essays about possible names and telling how proud they were to have been able to participate in the discussions," said Jan Reedijk via Live Science, the president of the IUPAC's Inorganic Chemistry Division, adding, "It is a long process from initial discovery to the final naming, and IUPAC is thankful for the cooperation of everyone involved. For now, we can all cherish our periodic table completed down to the seventh row."

According to Washington Post, as for where the element Nihonium is concerned, this is the first to be named after a Japanese origin. Kosuke Morita, a chemist at Kyushu University, is filled with "deep emotion" following the announcement of the element.

Nihonium was first synthesized in 2004. However, it wasn't until 2005 that the element was recreated and again in the year 2012.