Periodic Table Gets A New Element After The Discovery Of 'Copernicium'

Image: Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, after whom the new element is named

From The Daily Mail:

The periodic table - the chart studied by generations of children and chemists - is to get a little more crowded.

Scientists yesterday announced they are to add a 'super heavy' element, called copernicium, to the table.

The element - which has the symbol Cp - is named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who deduced that the planets revolved around the sun.

It was discovered 13 years ago in a German nuclear laboratory - but was only accepted as a genuine element in June. For much of the last 13 years, copernicium was known as element 112.

The discovery and naming of a new element is big news in the world of chemistry.

Read more ....