The 114th and 116th elements of the periodic table are now more than numbers, as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has officially approved names for both. Dubbed flerovium and livermorium respectively, both were named after labs that helped discover them — the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Russia and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States. The elements were originally added to the table last year, and fit into the “superheavy” category of atoms, which are particularly hard to study due to their short half-lives. They’re also both man-made elements, so don’t expect to stumble across a batch flerovium any time soon.
Flerovium and livermorium get names on the periodic table of elements
Two elements that were added to the periodic table of elements last year now have official names.
Two elements that were added to the periodic table of elements last year now have official names.
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