Forums

As you may have heard, all the elements in the 7th period have now been officially recognized by IUPAC and will receive names and symbols. There is an exciting opportunity here, as credit for element 113 goes to a Japanese team and may very well be named Japonium. Currently, the letter J is completely absent from the periodic table. I think that element 113 should receive the symbol J for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it will open opportunities to spell words and thereby draw attention to that part of the table. If you are aware of any venues where an opinion can be expressed on the matter, let your voice be heard for the symbol J!

I'm pretty sure there's no way to cast a vote. The naming rights go to the discoverers, and IUPAC can approve or disapprove of the name and symbol. What has to happen is first the discoverers have to be persuaded to choose the symbol J (you can find their e-mails by doing a simple internet search) and the IUPAC naming committee (link to their page here: http://www.iupac.org/nc/home/about/members-and-committees/db/division-committee.html?tx_wfqbe_pi1%5Btitle%5D=Interdivisional%20Committee%20on%20Terminology%2C%20Nomenclature%20and%20Symbols&tx_wfqbe_pi1%5Bpublicid%5D=027) has to be persuaded to make an exception to their rules, because J is currently considered a forbidden symbol, as it was once in common use in Germany as the symbol for iodine. I am optimistic they could be persuaded to make an exception to the rules, as they did it once for Seaborgium. So spread the word, and get people on board for this. The periodic table is the most precious real estate in science, and it only gets new subdivisions on rare occasions.

Can't wait to get the new names - a great way to generate student interest.

Haha that's such an interesting standpoint on why to name the new element Japonium. It would make those "Create your name from elements" sites a lot more effective!