The name of element 112 should be copernicium (Cp), its discoverers proposed last week. Sigurd Hofmann's team at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany — who first created atoms of the element in 1996 — picked the name to honour astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, famed for his heliocentric theory of the Solar System.
The superheavy element, previously known by the placeholder ununbium, was officially recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in May this year.
IUPAC confirmation of the new moniker awaits a six-month discussion period to iron out potential confusions. For instance, chemists already use Cp as shorthand for the cyclopentadienyl fragment C5H5.
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Copernicus honoured in periodic-table addition. Nature 460, 449 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/460449d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/460449d
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