Pointless rant, but a rant nontheless.

 

The newly named element 112 - Copernicium (Cp).

 

I have no issue with properly naming a new element. I have no issue with naming it after a scientiest of the past (Nicolaus Copernicus). What I do have an issue with is the fact it's going to have an official abbreviation (Cp) that is already widely used in Chemistry.

 

Cp is used to represent cyclopentadienyl, a widely used compound. I don't think the use of Cp is official in IUPACs eyes but everyone uses it. Similar to using Me for Methyl and Bu for Butyl. It seems even more odd since Cp is generally used to bond to metals for various reasons, so if someone in the future happened to assume it was actually copernicium then there would be massive confusion.

 

Anyway, pointless rant over.

There would also likely be a massive explosion, Cp (the element) is not very stable, is it? Realistically, is it going to cause that much confusion? ARe people going to be confused as to whether you're using Cp, a widely used and well-known compound, or Cp, a totally unstable and esoteric element that only a few people have seen vague evidence of?

 

:Y

If it causes confusion, (unlikely as so far its only been shown to exist for a very brief period) then it could always be changed. Mendelevium used to be Mv and is now Md (if I remember correctly!)

I agree with both of you, it probably won't cause any confusion at all. But it still annoyed me!

What is it? Ecto plasm?

Its the largest element currently known.
Until its officialy named, I think its still ununpentium (i.e. 115, its number in the periodic table)

 

As such a large element, its very very unstable and as far a I know, hasn't existed for more than a few fractions of a second, and even then that's only under laboratory conditions.

Is it icky?

It's 112, ununbium.

Copernicum is 112, but hasn't 115 now been identified (to be confirmed)?

Is that all? I thought they would have got further than that by now!

 

Wayne, dunno if its icky, but its so radioactive that if it was available in any sort of quantity it'd probably have a nice green glow.

Does it taste of peas?

Dunno - go taste some and let me know.

On the contrary, I have an amusingly designed cocktail stick dispenser made of it, a souvenir of Rhyll, in my weird shit draw. The cocktail sticks keep falling out, which I had put down to poor design, but I'm wondering now whether it might be a consequence of atomic instability.

Copernicium does not have enough Os in it

I've got my spade out.

 

Turns out IUPAC decided Cp was a bad symbol for it, one of the reasons being the reason I gave in post 1, so they've gone for Cn instead. I'm much happier about the whole issue now.