Ununbium (IPA: /ˌjuːˈnʌnbiəm/), or eka-mercury, is a temporary IUPAC systematic element name for a chemical element in the periodic table that has the temporary symbol Uub and the atomic number 112. Element 112 is one of the superheavy elements. Following periodic trends, it is expected to be a liquid metal more volatile than mercury.

[edit] History

Ununbium was first created on February 9, 1996 at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany. This element was created by fusing a zinc atom with a lead atom by accelerating zinc nuclei into a lead target in a heavy ion accelerator.

The element was synthesized in 2000 and 2004 in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia.

On May 2006 in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research the synthesis of this element was confirmed by another method (the chemical identifying on final products of decay of element).

Speculation in chemistry circles is that the discoverers will likely propose helmholtzium with symbol Hh after the HGF consortium. HGF is the acronym for the Hermann von Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren which is the association of national research centers GSI is part of. Another suggestion is wixhausium with symbol Wi after the Wixhausen district of Darmstadt.