Chemistry students will now have a tougher time memorizing the periodic table.
Four elements have been added to the table, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
The elements, which have yet to be officially named, are being called Element 113, Element 115, Element 117 and Element 118.
The new elements also provide a certain symmetry to the periodic table, filling out the seventh row of the chart.
"The chemistry community is eager to see its most cherished table finally being completed down to the seventh row,” said Professor Jan Reedijk, president of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of IUPAC.
The elements, which were discovered by teams in the U.S., Japan and Russia, were observed by colliding smaller, lighter nuclei and tracking the decay of the resulting radioactive elements.
“To scientists, this is of greater value than an Olympic gold medal,” Ryoji Noyori, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, told The Guardian newspaper.
New Elements Added to Periodic Table
- By VOA News
