Element 115 May Make It Onto Periodic Table, Making High School That Much Harder

There may be a new periodic element, Ununpentium. The new element has not yet been confirmed, but the periodic table may change in shape.

The new element is highly radioactive and very heavy. It only exists for a fraction of a second, then decays into lighter atoms.

The radioactive element would have atomic number 115. New evidence makes a clearer case for the molecule being an element. It was first proposed in 2004 by a Russian team.

After that, an independent team had to measure the exact proton number.

The Swedish team that recently researched the new element will publish their findings in the journal Physical Review Letters.

"This was a very successful experiment and is one of the most important in the field in recent years", said Dirk Rudolph, a professor at the division of atomic physics at Lund University.

The team said their finding "goes beyond the standard measurement". And, they said, their research has given clues to the structure and properties of super-heavy atomic nuclei.

In order to conduct the experiment, the team produced a new isotope of the potential new element was produced. The isotope was then transformed into other particles via a radioactive process named alpha decay. As the alpha decay occurred, the radiation was measured, giving a "fingerprint" for the element.

The team blasted a thin film of the element americium with calcium ions. This then which allowed them to measure photons and how they reacted in connection with the new element's alpha decay.

A committee will review the case and decide how to proceed. But at some point,

high school students may have a slightly different chart to memorize.

What do you think of the new element? Sound off in the comments below!