It has to be called something other than Element 115- right? That’s true; so far it’s been called ununpentium; since it couldn't be an official element when it was discovered, they gave it a placeholder name until the element was recreated. The Russian scientists who first discovered it were contacted soon after the element was recreated, so they will have the rights to name it.
How do you create an element? Well, you shoot two beams of atoms from two different elements at each other, of course! But you just don’t shoot them once and call it quits; the Swedish chemists shot a beam of calcium atoms at a beam of americium atoms for weeks, up to months, at a time.
Another question then springs up: Why even create new elements in the first place? It gives us insight about the forces that hold atoms (and everything!) together. It also nurtures the human nature for curiosity and quest for understanding. And don’t worry, Call of Duty fans, Element 115/ununpentium can’t bring back the dead (although that would be pretty cool).
-Kevin Brown
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