First discovered in Darmstadt at the Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI Helmholtzentrum für Schwerionenforschung), the chemical element 112 is set to be added to the periodic table. At more than 277 times that of hydrogen, the new element is set to be the heaviest in the periodic table.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially confirmed element 112’s future position, presenting their decision to the head of the discovering team, Professor Sigurd Hofmann.

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Professor Sigurd Hofmann during the naming of the last discovered element 111 Roentgenium in 2006

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

The team of 21 scientists from Germany, Finland, Russia and Slovakia who were involved in the experiments that resulted in the discovery of element 112 will now have the opportunity to propose a name for the element over the next weeks. The name will be reviewed by the IUPAC and receive its official name in about 6 months.
 
"We are delighted that now the sixth element - and thus all of the elements discovered at GSI during the past 30 years - has been officially recognized. During the next few weeks, the scientists of the discovering team will deliberate on a name for the new element", says Sigurd Hofmann.
Professor Sigurd Hofmann's international team created the first atom of element 112 with an accelerator at GSI in 1996. They then were able to produce another atom in 2002. GSI's discovery was confirmed after additional accelerator experiments at the Japanese RIKEN Discovery Research Institute produced more atoms of element 112.

To produce element 112 atoms, scientists accelerate charged zinc with 120-meter long particle accelerators at GSI, then firing them onto a lead target. The zinc and lead nuclei merge in nuclear fusion, forming the new element’s nucleus.
The atomic number of an element reveals how many protons are in its nucleus. The atomic number of 112 is the sum of the atomic numbers of its initiating elements, zinc (with its atomic number of 30) and lead (with an atomic number of 82). The 112 electrons orbiting the nucleus determine the new element's chemical properties.

Six chemical elements with atomic numbers of 107 to 112 have been discovered through GSI accelerator experiments since 1981 in Darmstadt. Element 107 has been named Bohrium, element 108 Hassium, element 109 Meitnerium, element 110 Darmstadtium, and element 111 Roentgenium.