• Question: How is a new element discovered?

    Asked by spacenut1982 to Christina, Colin, Jess, Samaneh, Steve on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Christina Pagel

      Christina Pagel answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      I think nowadays the only way new elements are discovered is if they are made in a lab by chemists/physicists (by adding more protons and neutrons to the nucleus of an atom) – this way you can get heavier elements.

      The current most recent element is ununoctium with atomic number 119… so the next element to be made is 120… but it’s hard to get them to be stable!

      The heaviest natural element is Uranium (atomic number 92).

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