5X5 Episode 70

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5X5 Episode 70
New Element Discovered
30th June 2009
5X5 69	5X5 71
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
R: Rebecca Watson
B: Bob Novella
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
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New Element Discovered

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide 5x5, five minutes with five skeptics, with Steve, Jay, Rebecca, Bob and Evan.

S: This is the SGU 5x5 and tonight we are talking about a newly discovered super heavy element.

R: He's not heavy - he's just my element

An element with no name. Actually, the element was discovered 13 years ago by scientists at the Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany. They created this super heavy element that is not on the periodic table of the elements that we all know and love. Now, 13 years later the IUPAC (the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) have finally given this new element it's blessing after the element was independently verified - which is one of the things that's required for them to sign off on a new element - somebody else has to independently create this element. So, all that is needed now is an official name so that it can then be added to the periodic table. I suggest Skeptonium.

Skeptonium?

Well Richard Saunders put a bid in - he wanted it to be called Elementominium. Oh Richard.

R: And Richard Wiseman is starting a campaign for it to be called Kyrptonite.

S: Although, there is already a Kyrptonite

R: I know - I think it's confusing.

They should call it Dolermite.

There is already a short list that the researchers are keeping close to their vest - so we won't know.

What I don't get is that we all knew it was there - right. It doesn't take a genius to see when you are looking through the periodic table, element 109, 110, 111, 112, - gap - 114. I mean.

Yeah

I had it figured out.

I agree. I take exception with the whole notion of 'discovering' this new element. They actually didn't discover - it wasn't like it was out there in the universe and they found it. Which was the case with example - they created it - they created it - they took a super-collider and they smashed some zinc into some lead and eventually they got it to fuse together and by the rapid decay of the result they were able to show that, for a fleeting moment, one of the atoms had 112 protons. The number of protons is what determines the atomic number. The atomic number thats right - and then the number of neutrons determines the isotope. So, this was a 112 proton element. These things don't last for very long because there at the upper limit of an atoms' ability to hang together. They have a tendency to break apart because the repulsive force from the positive protons are exceeding the attractive forces of the nuclear force.

Then why, therefore, under the natural forces of nature can you only get to a certain point and then it takes mankind to exceed the point that nature can otherwise yield.

Well, its not so much that they can't be made - maybe these things are being made in supernova explosions - its that they are extremely unstable - they last for milliseconds. So if 112 was made in a supernova it would have long since decayed. It just have to do with the balance of the different types of forces, the electromagnetic forces trying to break apart the nucleus mainly from the repulsive of the positive protons exceeds the attractive force of the nuclear forces. So, its just the upper limit of the stability of a nucleus to hold together.

Now, we have mentioned how unstable they are. Yet, scientists theorise though that beyond uranium which is 92 protons there may be an island of stability in which elements can contain a specific 'magic' number of protons and neutrons that would give them much greater stability - and a half life that is much, much longer. Perhaps, in terms of hours, days, months - something that we ould actually study more closely and maybe who knows maybe we can even put some of these new elements with novel properties to use.

Umm, first of all, who gets to name a new element that is found.

The discoverers or the creators.

You have to create it, no matter how fleetingly it is in existence you get to name it if you make it and you prove that you made it in a laboratory.

If you create it and it's verified independently by other people, then you can name it - its your baby.

Bear in mind only 4 atoms of this element have been known to exist. That's it. But that's enough apparently.

And what's the purpose of creating these elements if they just exist for a blip. Why do we care?

Yeah, that's a good question Jay. It might seem like it's a little indulgent for them to just create these things and 'oh there it is and it's gone' and what can you do with these things - they are so fleeting. Scientists can actually learn a lot about nuclear power plants and atomic bombs and how they function by studying this so we can learn a lot by this type of stuff.

S: Yeah we are not going to be building stuff out of element 112 any time soon but it is a way of exploring particle physics essentially.

S: SGU 5x5 is a companion podcast to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, a weekly science podcast brought to you by the New England Skeptical Society in association with skepchick.org. For more information on this and other episodes, visit our website at www.theskepticsguide.org. Music is provided by Jake Wilson.