Nihonium, Moscovium, Tennessine and Oganesson are officially official. This week, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry added numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 to the Period table of elements (114 and 116 – Livermorium and Flerovium – were added in 2012).
While all of the above were initially synthesized between 2002 and 2010 and officially recognized by the IUPAC in December of last year, the organization institutes a waiting period as part of the road to tabledom. In June, scientists were asked to submit names for the elements.
The past five months were a devoted to an open period in which the public could submit questions about the super-heavy elements. As The New York Times handily notes, the public was also unsurprisingly vocal with the naming conventions, suggesting everything from the Terry Pratchett-inspired “octarine” and “lemmium” in honor of the recently deceased Motorhead frontman (along with “rikenium,” “adamantium” and, yeah, “trumpium”).
The final additions were decidedly more diplomatic. Nihonium was inspired by the Japanese word for Japan, Oganesson was named for Russian scientist Yuri Oganessian and Moscovium and Tennessine, which were inspired by a city and a state, respectively.
The new elements will fill out the table’s seventh row, sporting the symbols Nh, Mc, Ts and Og.