Abstract | The article presents a quiz for readers to identify a certain element using a clue given in it. While searching for the sacred treasure, Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code encountered a cryptic clue: 'a knight whose funeral was presided over by a Pope.' Not much different from Langdon's, the clue for this challenge is: 'this element is Pope.' As with the election of a new Pope, once discovery of a new chemical element is officially recognized, a new name is adopted. The christening of an element, however, does not happen overnight as the assumption of regnal names by pontiffs. The element 114 was discovered in 1999, this discovery was confirmed a decade later in 2009, the element was officially recognized in 2011. To facilitate the scientific communications regarding elements which lack a formal name, a nomenclature of systematic naming has been established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the International body in charge of christening all new chemical elements. |
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