In 2019, the periodic table turned 150 years old. The first version contained only 63 elements. But the process of adding elements there has not stopped to this day.
How many open chemical elements exist now.
As of the beginning of 2020, scientists officially discovered 118 chemical elements, which have the corresponding serial numbers from 1 to 118. At the same time, 94 elements are of natural origin, and another 24 are discovered artificially - by means of nuclear reactions.
Interesting fact: the last 118 chemical element, officially discovered and confirmed on November 28, 2016, is called Oganeson in honor of Yuri Oganesyan, the famous academician. This is the second element named after a living person (the first is seborgium).
Scientists used to discover elements by discovering them in nature. For this, various minerals were investigated, divided into separate components. But they cannot be in infinite quantity - after uranium, subsequent discoveries are carried out only by synthetic means.
How exactly does the process of opening a new element take place? In simple terms, a fusion reaction of two nuclei is produced. One nucleus acts as a "target", and the other acts as an attacking particle. Visually, this can be represented as a drop of liquid that vibrates and, as a result, splits into two drops - a new element is formed. The difficulty lies in the fact that some elements can exist for a long time, while others disintegrate in just a few minutes. This makes it difficult to study and discover new elements. Scientists are also trying to create heavy elements, which in practice is even more difficult.
In the modern version of the table, elements 104-118 are superheavy. This means that they have a significant atomic mass. Elements heavier than uranium were not found - all subsequent ones are formed only artificially. Currently, scientists are actively searching for elements numbered 119 and 120.
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The main goal is to understand how big the table can be, and what forces make such heavy atoms stick together. Superheavy elements are opened by combining two lungs. According to this scheme, elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 were found.
Such studies are taking place only in a few laboratories located in different countries of the world. There is such a specialized facility in Russia. The main Russian scientific center in this area is the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, located in the Dubna technopolis (Moscow region).
It is here that 5 elements have been artificially created over the past 20 years - from 114 to 118. The Factory of Superheavy Elements is also being created in Dubna - an installation that should simplify synthesis.
