Element naming controversy

An element naming controversy is a dispute over who discovered a chemical element, what evidence establishes its discovery, or what name it should receive.

Transfermium Wars: A dispute among American, Soviet, and German scientists over credit and names for elements 104–106. The best-known sustained fight over both discovery priority and element names.
IUPAC–IUPAP Joint Working Party: A joint body that evaluates claims to discover chemical elements and recommends which teams receive credit. It investigates discovery priority when laboratories make competing claims.
Chemical element: A pure substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons in their nuclei. A discovery claim concerns a new proton number, not merely a new isotope.
Element 113: Nihonium, a synthetic chemical element with atomic number 113. Its discovery and final name followed a long process of evaluating Japanese and competing claims.
Element 118 discovery controversy: A dispute over the 1999 claim to have produced element 118, later retracted after the reported evidence could not be reproduced. It shows how unreliable evidence can overturn a discovery claim before naming is settled.
IUPAC element discovery criteria: The criteria used by IUPAC and IUPAP to assess whether experiments establish the existence of a new element. A naming dispute may begin with disagreement over whether discovery evidence is sufficient.
Atomic number: The number of protons in an atom's nucleus, which identifies its chemical element. Evidence for a new element must establish a previously unknown atomic number.
Element 114: Flerovium, a synthetic chemical element with atomic number 114. Its name honors the Flerov Laboratory, central to the discovery team recognized by IUPAC.
Nihonium naming controversy: Discussion of the proposed name nihonium for element 113, including objections to its pronunciation and form. The name drew public debate even after the discovery team had naming rights.
IUPAC element naming process: The procedure by which recognized discoverers propose an element name and IUPAC reviews it before adoption. It defines who may propose a name and how objections are considered.

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