Tuesday, July 28, 2009

You Learn Something New Every Day

Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all
This month could well be historical in a truly revolutionary way and in more ways than one. Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer whose life spanned the 15th and 16th centuries. His brave claim went against the belief of the time that the earth was the centre of the universe. He put the sun there instead.

In his revolutionary book, On The revolutions Of The Celestial Spheres, Copernicus explained the observed motions of celestial objects in a theory that earned the name Copernican Revolution.

After almost four hundred years, he could be immortalised in the name that’s suggested for the heaviest known element, number 112 in the Periodic Table of the Elements. The new element, first created in 1996 by the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, is 277 times heavier than the lightest element, hydrogen.

Following recent confirmation of its existence, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has recommended that it be named Copernicium, and gave it the symbol Cp.

If there is no significant objection, within six months Copernicium will become the official name for a special element – a fitting accomplishment in the International Year of Astronomy.


Professor Martyn Poliakoff, Associated Professor Peter Licence
Research Fellow Meghan Gray
, Nottingham University


Ngā mihi nui – Best wishes

2 comments:

V Yonkers said...

I first learned about the "new elements" on the Periodic table of videos.

It's one of my (and my kid's) favorite sites.

Blogger In Middle-earth said...

Kia ora Virginia!

That's where I learnt about it. Thanks for putting the link in!

Catchya later