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When Will We Reach the End of the Periodic Table?
Smithsonian ^ | 19 Jan, 2016 | Devin Powell

Posted on 02/02/2016 4:29:12 PM PST by MtnClimber

Chemistry teachers recently had to update their classroom decor, with the announcement that scientists have confirmed the discovery of four new elements on the periodic table. The as-yet unnamed elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 filled in the remaining gaps at the bottom of the famous chart-a roadmap of matter's building blocks that has successfully guided chemists for nearly a century and a half.

The official confirmation, granted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), was years in the making, as these superheavy elements are highly unstable and tough to create. But scientists had strong reason to believe they existed, in part because the periodic table has been remarkably consistent so far. Efforts to conjure up elements 119 and 120, which would start a new row, are already underway.

But exactly how many more elements are out there remains one of chemistry’s most persistent mysteries, especially as our modern understanding of physics has revealed anomalies even in the established players.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: chemistry; element; elements; periodictable; science; stringtheory
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To: soycd

That’s the best part. Our perception is limited to the universe, which is finite. Anything speculated outside of the universe has to be taken on faith. In other words, infinity is not science. It is nothing more than a god, taken on faith without anything to prove (or disprove) it’s existence.


21 posted on 02/02/2016 5:04:28 PM PST by D Rider
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To: UCANSEE2

See post 21. It’s not about comprehension. It’s about physics. Infinity outside of being a mathematical concept, is religion not science.


22 posted on 02/02/2016 5:08:22 PM PST by D Rider
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To: D Rider

> It is nothing more than a god

Exactly. What not is seen is believed to be real.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yzPZMCQQBI&index=25&list=PLAFb89KDm1Ep_UwbgUI7aqIQ0_WVLveA0


23 posted on 02/02/2016 5:18:20 PM PST by soycd
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To: MtnClimber
The heavier atoms have to be created artificially and are so unstable they don't last long.

I had read that scientists are speculating that a new row of elements may be stable. Sounds impossible, but much of what we take for granted now was deemed impossible a century ago.

24 posted on 02/02/2016 5:19:34 PM PST by roadcat
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To: MtnClimber
Island of stability
25 posted on 02/02/2016 5:20:56 PM PST by wideminded
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To: MtnClimber

Strong interaction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In particle physics, the strong interaction is the mechanism responsible for the strong nuclear force (also called the strong force, nuclear strong force), one of the four known fundamental interactions of nature, the others being electromagnetism, the weak interaction and gravitation.

Despite only operating at a distance of a femtometer, it is the strongest force, being approximately 100 times stronger than electromagnetism, a million times stronger than weak interaction and 1038 times stronger than gravitation at that range.[1] It ensures the stability of ordinary matter, confining quarks into hadron particles, such as the proton and neutron, the largest components of the mass of ordinary matter. Furthermore, most of the mass-energy of a common proton or neutron is in the form of the strong force field energy; the individual quarks provide only about 1% of the mass-energy of a proton.

The strong interaction is observable in two areas: on a larger scale (about 1 to 3 femtometers (fm)), it is the force that binds protons and neutrons (nucleons) together to form the nucleus of an atom. On the smaller scale (less than about 0.8 fm, the radius of a nucleon), it is the force (carried by gluons) that holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. In the latter context, it is often known as the color force. The strong force inherently has such a high strength that hadrons bound by the strong force can produce new massive particles.

Thus, if hadrons are struck by high-energy particles, they give rise to new hadrons instead of emitting freely moving radiation (gluons). This property of the strong force is called color confinement, and it prevents the free “emission” of the strong force: instead, in practice, jets of massive particles are observed.

In the context of binding protons and neutrons together to form atomic nuclei, the strong interaction is called the nuclear force (or residual strong force). In this case, it is the residuum of the strong interaction between the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons. As such, the residual strong interaction obeys a quite different distance-dependent behavior between nucleons, from when it is acting to bind quarks within nucleons.

The binding energy that is partly released on the breakup of a nucleus is related to the residual strong force and is harnessed in nuclear power and fission-type nuclear weapons.[2][3]

The strong interaction is hypothesized to be mediated by massless particles called gluons, that are exchanged between quarks, antiquarks, and other gluons. Gluons, in turn, are thought to interact with quarks and gluons as all carry a type of charge called color charge. Color charge is analogous to electromagnetic charge, but it comes in three types rather than one (+/- red, +/- green, +/- blue) that results in a different type of force, with different rules of behavior. These rules are detailed in the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which is the theory of quark-gluon interactions.

After the Big Bang, during the electroweak epoch, the electroweak force separated from the strong force. Although it is expected that a Grand Unified Theory exists to describe this, no such theory has been successfully formulated, and the unification remains an unsolved problem in physics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_interaction


26 posted on 02/02/2016 5:21:05 PM PST by ETL (Ted Cruz 2016!! -- For a better, safer America)
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To: PIF

Kinda like National Geographic


27 posted on 02/02/2016 5:21:34 PM PST by nomorelurker
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To: MtnClimber

Weak interaction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In particle physics, the weak interaction is the mechanism responsible for the weak force or weak nuclear force, one of the four known fundamental interactions of nature, alongside the strong interaction, electromagnetism, and gravitation. The weak interaction is responsible for the radioactive decay of subatomic particles, and it plays an essential role in nuclear fission.

The theory of the weak interaction is sometimes called quantum flavordynamics (QFD), in analogy with the terms QCD and QED, but the term is rarely used because the weak force is best understood in terms of electro-weak theory (EWT).[1]

In the Standard Model of particle physics, the weak interaction is caused by the emission or absorption of W and Z bosons. All known fermions interact through the weak interaction. Fermions are particles that have half-integer spin (one of the fundamental properties of particles). A fermion can be an elementary particle, such as the electron, or it can be a composite particle, such as the proton. The masses of W+, W−, and Z bosons are each far greater than that of protons or neutrons, consistent with the short range of the weak force.

The force is termed weak because its field strength over a given distance is typically several orders of magnitude less than that of the strong nuclear force and electromagnetic force.

During the quark epoch, the electroweak force split into the electromagnetic and weak forces. Important examples of weak interaction include beta decay, and the production, from hydrogen, of deuterium needed to power the sun’s thermonuclear process. Most fermions will decay by a weak interaction over time. Such decay also makes radiocarbon dating possible, as carbon-14 decays through the weak interaction to nitrogen-14. It can also create radioluminescence, commonly used in tritium illumination, and in the related field of betavoltaics.[2]

Quarks, which make up composite particles like neutrons and protons, come in six “flavours” - up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom - which give those composite particles their properties. The weak interaction is unique in that it allows for quarks to swap their flavour for another. For example, during beta minus decay, a down quark decays into an up quark, converting a neutron to a proton. Also the weak interaction is the only fundamental interaction that breaks parity-symmetry, and similarly, the only one to break CP-symmetry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_interaction


28 posted on 02/02/2016 5:23:11 PM PST by ETL (Ted Cruz 2016!! -- For a better, safer America)
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To: soycd

Link won’t play for me. Says try again later....


29 posted on 02/02/2016 5:25:23 PM PST by D Rider
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To: D Rider

“There are no laws of infinity. Infinity is a mathematical concept that does not exist in the time and space that we call the universe.”

Neither does the square root of negative one. But without this fake number our entire technological society would not exist


30 posted on 02/02/2016 5:27:05 PM PST by dsrtsage (One half of all people have below average IQ. In the US the number is 54%)
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To: MtnClimber

It ends with Unobtainium. It’s a little further down than Wonderflonium.


31 posted on 02/02/2016 5:28:54 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: MtnClimber

After the Periodic Table, the next graphic to complete is the sub-atomic particles. We keep finding new ones of them also.


32 posted on 02/02/2016 5:28:58 PM PST by spintreebob
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To: struggle
something about 115 comes to mind...
33 posted on 02/02/2016 5:29:03 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - Luke, 22:36)
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To: D Rider

Darn it. Let’s try it again ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yzPZMCQQBI&index=25&list=PLAFb89KDm1Ep_UwbgUI7aqIQ0_WVLveA0


34 posted on 02/02/2016 5:29:24 PM PST by soycd
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To: soycd

Very nice. Thanks


35 posted on 02/02/2016 5:36:44 PM PST by D Rider
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To: DannyTN

I think it will end with Obamarium. It is certain to be the most dense.


36 posted on 02/02/2016 5:39:52 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Obamarium is also highly unstable. It won’t be around too long.


37 posted on 02/02/2016 5:43:03 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: D Rider

Infinity as a concept is supported by: no matter where you draw an end point you can always +1, in perpetuity. Thus it is non-finite. So if you are unable to define and end, it is thus infinite.

The question becomes relative to your location on that line. Does infinitely large, conversely become infinitely small? Can/does infinitely large occupy the same space as infinitely small?


38 posted on 02/02/2016 5:43:57 PM PST by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: MtnClimber; SaveFerris; PROCON; FredZarguna; mylife; Lil Flower; Larry Lucido

Number 74 on the periodic table, this element’s symbol is W.


39 posted on 02/02/2016 5:52:32 PM PST by Gamecock ( Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...Matthew 10:28)
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To: MtnClimber
I think it will end with Obamarium. It is certain to be the most dense.

Maybe, that's a very nasty element that corrupts and decays everything it touches. Frequently found on golf courses, it's best contained in a penitentiary. It's an element that is so slippery that it's often thought to be completely fake.

40 posted on 02/02/2016 5:54:04 PM PST by DannyTN
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