Naming new elements in the periodic table follows basic guidelines: names must end with “ium,” not be previously considered, and not be named after a living person. Some elements have been named after deceased scientists, replacing the use of Greek terms or geographic locations. The letter “J” is not found in any atomic symbols or element names.
Choosing permanent names for elements added to the periodic table isn’t as complicated as some people think. While various trends prevailed in the past, including the use of Greek name forms, there are only a few basic guidelines that are observed today. A new item name cannot be something that was considered for a different item in the past. All proposed names must end with “ium”. As a final guideline, a new item should not be named after a person who is still alive. On several occasions, one or more of these guidelines have been disregarded by the discoverers of a new element.
Learn more about the elements in the periodic table:
The letter “J” is nowhere to be found in the periodic table. Not only is that letter not used in any atomic symbols, none of the elements in the periodic table even contain a “J” anywhere in their name.
During the 1990s, there was considerable debate over naming Element 106 seaborgium, after American chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. The debate had to do with the fact that Seaborg was still alive at the time. Proponents noted that there was a precedent, because einsteinium was given its name when Albert Einstein was still alive.
Eleven of the 14 elements discovered since the 1950s have been named after scientists, most of whom were deceased by the time the elements were officially given their names. This practice superseded the use of Greek terms as part of feature names or using the name of a country, river, or other geographic location as the primary source for the name.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
