/oss/taxonomy/term/2461/all en /oss/article/did-you-know-history/copernicium <p>We can now add the newest element to the periodic table.  It has been named Copernicium in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer who first hypothesized that the Earth revolves around the Sun.  Don’t expect to have a bottle of it on a shelf though.  Copernicium does not occur in nature, it is made in the lab by bombarding lead-208 nuclei with zinc-70 nuclei and has only a fleeting existence.  The element has no practical use but its synthesis provides information that can improve our understanding of atomic structure.</p> Wed, 31 May 2017 14:26:23 +0000 OSS 2504 at /oss