TOKYO, Sept. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Japanese scientists said Tuesday they have created a new element that is heavier than any known element, the most
significant in the field since the heaviest known element was discovered in Germany in 1996.
If confirmed, the new element, whose atomic number is 113, will be the first manmade element created by Japanese, according to Kosuke Morita and
his team at Japan's physical and chemical research institute.
The team would have the right to name the superheavy element inthe periodic table, and "japonium" is a candidate name, Morita said.
The heaviest element existing in nature is uranium whose atomic number is 92. All heavier elements have been produced artificiallyby scientists
and numbered according to how many protons are in their nuclei. From 1940 to 1996, elements numbered up to 112 were created.
Russian scientists said in February they had created elements 113 and 115, but the discovery remains to be confirmed internationally.
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