Flerovium and Livermorium?

Elements 114 and 116 are the latest additions to the Periodic Table of the elements,
created by smashing calcium ions into a curium target to create element 116. Element 116 decayed almost immediately into element 114. The scientists also created element 114 separately by replacing curium with a plutonium target.
Both elements were first produced at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Reasearch, Dubna, Russia, and Lawrence Livermore chemists. Element 114 was first produced in 1998 and element 116 in 2000. The proposed name for element 114 is flerovium with the symbol Fl, and, the proposed name for element 116 is livermorium with the symbol Lv.

Flerovium was chosen to honour the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions where element 114 was synthesized. The laboratory itself is named after Georgiy N. Flerov (1913-1990) , a renowned physicist who discovered the spontaneous fission of uranium and was a pioneer in heavy-ion physics. He is the founder of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

Livermorium was chosen to honour Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the city of Livermore, California. A group of researchers from the Laboratory, along with scientists at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, participated in the work carried out in Dubna on the synthesis of superheavy elements, including element 116. The element lawrencium, element 103, was named after LLNL's founder E.O. Lawrence.

The new names were submitted to the IUPAC in October 2011 and now remain in the public domain. The new names will not be official until about March 2012 when the public comment period is over.

Reference
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2011, December 1). Scientists propose new names for elements 114 and 116. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/12/111201125400.htm

Further Reading
History of the Elements
Periodic Table of the Elements
Isotopes
Nuclear Decay

Suggested Study Questions

1. What is the atomic number of each of the following elements?
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
2. How many protons are in the nucleus of an atom of each of the following elements?
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
3. Calculate the number of electrons present in an atom of each of the following elements:
   
   • calcium
   • curium
   • plutonium
   • uranium
   • lawrencium
     
   • flerovium
   • livermorium
4. For each of the elements above, state whether it is found in nature or whether it is man-made.
   
5. Assuming each of the elements above forms an ion with a charge of +2 then
   • how many electrons will be present in each ion?
   • how many protons will be present in each ion?

6. Write a possible nuclear equation to show the production of livermorium from calcium ions and curium atoms.

7. Write a possible nuclear equation to show the production of flerovium from plutonium atoms and calcium atoms.

8. Write a possible nuclear decay equation to show how livermorium could decay to produce flerovium.

9. The suggested symbol for Flerovium is Fl. List all other elements that have a symbol which includes the letter F.

10. The suggested symbol for Livermorium is Lv. List all the other elements that have a symbol which includes the letter L.