How to Make Superheavy Elements and Finish the Periodic Table [Video]

Scientists who made three of the newest elements talk about whether they will run out of room for more

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Chemistry World visited the Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to meet some of the scientists who study superheavy metals. In this series of vidoes we ask them how they do it, how many more elements do they think they can make, and what led them to this field of study. They also tell us about their latest projects in which they will attempt to measure the masses of single atoms and perform chemistry on these short-lived elements.

Making superheavy elements

In this video, Ken Gregorich and Jackie Gates from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory explain how they make and detect superheavy elements.

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Where will the periodic table end?

The latest elements to be discovered take the total to 118, but how much bigger will the periodic table get? Ken Gregorich of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Dawn Shaughnessy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – who was a member of the team behind three of the newest elements (moscovium, tennessine and oganesson) – give their opinions.

This article is reproduced with permission from Chemistry World. The article was first published on June 16, 2016.

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