Earlier this week, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approved four new elements in the periodic table, thus making countless copies of the old periodic table obsolete.

IUPAC, which is the organization in charge of naming and categorizing elements, officially included Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts), and Oganesson (Og) on the official periodic table on Nov. 8.

Like Us on Facebook

It can be noted that last year, these four new elements were temporarily named Ununtrium, Ununpentium, Ununseptium, and Ununoctium. All of these elements underwent five months of review since these have been proposed and opened for public comments in June.

The people who discovered them were given the privilege to be the first to propose for the names and symbols. Traditionally, the elements are named in honor of a scientist or the geographic locations where they have been found.

The three elements were named after geographical areas, namely, Nihonium with atomic number 113 from the word "Nihon" or Japan; Moscovium with an atomic number of 115 from Moscow; and Tennessine with atomic number 117 from Tennessee. The fourth new element Orgenesson with atomic number 118, on the other hand, was named in honor of physicist Yuri Oganessian.

Meanwhile, suggested names from the general public included octarine for the "color of magic" and Trumpium after the US President-elect Donald Trump.

The new elements earned their new spots in the seventh row of the periodic table. In addition, the new periodic table is expected to supersede the old one as these four new elements have undergone a long rigorous process, from initial discovery to the final naming up to having their final spot in the periodic table.

Jan Reedijk, President of IUPAC's Inorganic Chemistry Division, said that IUPAC thanked everyone involved in the process for their cooperation.

TagsNew Four Elements, Approved, periodic table, IUPAC, Atomic Number