Nihonium — A New Element Born in Japan

1 In 2017,/a new element was officially added/to the periodic table of elements.// It is nihonium (Nh).// Nihonium is unique/because it is the first element/found outside of Western countries.// It was discovered in Japan/by a researcher, Morita Kosuke, and his team.// The element was named after the place/where it was found, Nihon.//

2 An element is a basic substance/that composes things/in the world.// Hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and carbon (C)/are examples of such elements.// All the elements naturally existing in this world/had been found/by the middle of the 20th century.// Since then,/scientists have been trying/to create a new element artificially.//

3 Nihonium was synthesized/by the collision of two elements,/zinc (Zn) and bismuth (Bi),/at an ultrahigh speed/in a special machine.// Morita’s team started the experiment/to produce the new element in 2003,/and it was in 2012/that they finally found clear evidence/of successful synthesis.// During the nine years,/they repeated the experiment/about 400 trillion times,/and they were able to create their target/three times.//

4 Nihonium is not a stable element/and can exist only for two milliseconds.// Therefore,/it is not considered/to provide direct benefits/for people’s daily lives.// However,/exploring elements offers fundamental knowledge/about the world itself.// This knowledge is essential/for scientists/to conduct more practical research.//

5 Morita says,/“We named the new element ‘nihonium’/to thank people in Japan for their support.// We hope/that they will be proud of Japan/and be interested in science/when they see nihonium/on the periodic table.// We will be happy/if that leads to the development of science and technology in Japan/in the future.”//