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<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>CERN Courier </FONT></STRONG><STRONG><FONT size=2>Aug
25, 2009<BR></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2>Element 112 is to be given the name
'copernicium'</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2> </DIV>
<DIV>The team that discovered element 112 at GSI Darmstadt has proposed naming
it "copernicium", with the element symbol "Cp", in honour of the scientist and
astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. The International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC) should officially endorse the new element's name in around six
months, the period set to allow the scientific community to discuss the
proposal.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Copernicus, who lived from 1473 to 1543, paved the way for the modern view
of the universe when he firmly planted the Earth in orbit about the Sun in his
famous work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. With its planets revolving
around the Sun on different orbits, the solar system became a model for other
physical systems, in particular the atom, with electrons in orbit around the
nucleus. Although this model of the atom soon became surpassed by quantum
mechanics, it still provides a strong visual image. In an atom of the new
element, 112 electrons surround the nucleus.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Element 112 was first observed 13 years ago but has only recently received
official recognition from IUPAC. It is the heaviest element discovered so far in
the periodic table, being 277 times heavier than hydrogen. Produced by nuclear
fusion when bombarding zinc ions onto a lead target, the element rapidly decays
so its existence can be proved only with the help of extremely fast and
sensitive analysis methods. Twenty-one scientists from Germany, Finland, Russia
and Slovakia were involved in the experiments at GSI that led to the
discovery.</FONT></STRONG></DIV></BODY></HTML>