New chemical elements

The four recently discovered chemical elements that fill some of the gaps in the Periodic Table have been assigned provisional names by IUPAC, the names are now up for public consultation. There is no lemium, no bowium, no woganium, no princium. Instead, we have nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson.

  • Nihonium and symbol Nh, for the element 113, named for Nihon (Japan)
  • Moscovium and symbol Mc, for the element 115, named for Moscow
  • Tennessine and symbol Ts, for the element 117, named for Tennessee
  • Oganesson and symbol Og, for the element 118, named for Yuri Oganessian, pioneering transactinoid scientist

The convention is to name discovered elements after mythological concepts or characters, including astronomical objects, minerals or similar substances, places or geographical regions, a property of the element, or a scientist. You have until 8th November 2016, to stake any claims against the provisional names, according to the IUPAC notice just published.