Few nuclear physics, for example, in 2009, a group of Russian scientists discovered the element wit

Is it possible to create new chemical elements which ultimately could destroy the world or should we follow the rule of Mendeleev's periodic table? You will find the answer to this question below. I received the following question from two readers: there may be chemicals in the universe that we have not discovered yet? Or the periodic table contains all the elements in nature?
Whenever I get an email from management are generally inclined to believe that they have in mind a kind of doomsday scenario. Today's question seems harmless, but analyzing it in depth I'm pretty sure that I was their intention. How does chemistry to start with a simple question: what differs a chemical element coin from another? Protons All atoms consist coin of two parts: a nucleus and electrons in them outside. The core can be split into protons and neutrons, but it is necessary, obviously, the energies of the nuclear reactors. From the chemical point of view, an atomic nucleus is exactly the same as the other, as long as they have the same number of protons. Electron from the atom that is actually involved in chemical processes not only care about the electric charge of the nucleus, ie protons.
The periodic table is nothing more than a tool for counting the protons. Hydrogen has an atomic number equal to one, so it contains a single proton. This diatomic molecule form H 2. Even heavier versions of hydrogen, i.e., the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium such that 1 and 2 have neutron behaves chemically in the same way as normal hydrogen, which is free neutrons. Helium has an atomic number 2, and it may be one or more commonly, two neutrons, and so on. To give another example, the most common isotope of carbon has six protons (by definition) and 6 neutrons. However, in the stratosphere is made of carbon-14, carbon version 8 neutrons. This is only about 1 carbon atom in a trillion, coin but it proves to be useful. From the chemical point of view, carbon-12 (i.e. usual carbon) and carbon-14 shall be exactly the same, so that plants and animals (respiration coin and other living things because eating) containing the same ratio of one part in a trillion, which is found and in our bodies until we die. Since then, carbon-14 begins to decay and as you probably know we can use this to find out how long ago somebody lived. There are lots of other isotopes, but the question today was about finding new items. The short answer is that we should not expect to find something new halfway between hydrogen and helium or something, because all the elements are defined by the number of protons they contain and it must be an integer. However, we (and I did) get new items at the end of the periodic table.
Few nuclear physics, for example, in 2009, a group of Russian scientists discovered the element with atomic number 117, ununseptiu. When I say "discovered" I mean that they really have achieved in a laboratory, which means that in this case the atoms collided calcium and berkelium (ie all something I have also prepared a laboratory). result was represented by a half-dozen atoms (i.e., nt ununseptiu 6 carbon coin atoms) which disintegrated very fast. problem is that large particles, such as ununseptiul, which is almost 300 times heavier than ordinary hydrogen, tend to be quite unstable. Generally, they prefer to decay into lighter particles as soon as possible and in the process they emit their energy in the form of radiation. This is one of the reasons why uranium and plutonium are so radioactive. To ununseptiu problem is that it has a half-life less than a tenth of a second, so although he is more "stable" in accordance with nuclear coin standards coin (things "unstable" generally coin have a long half-life of 10 -10 seconds or so) can not be found in nature. In principle we can get heavier elements, but do not expect to find these around you. Atoms are not the only option if you want to change the entire periodic table there is another option: do not use protons and neutrons. As you can remember or as Alasdair previously explained in an excellent article, protons and neutrons are composed of more fundamental particles known as quarks. Specifically, these particles are composed of two lightest quarks: up quark and a down quark. Protons are made up of two up quarks and one down quark, while neutrons are composed of