To discover the elements, researchers at the three labs slammed lighter nuclei into one another and looked for radioactive decays that should come from the new elements. Ununtrium and ununpentium are thought to be metals. Ununseptium could be a metalloid. The fourth element, ununoctium, may be a gas, like other elements, helium, neon and argon. It is hard to know for sure because so few atoms of each element have ever been made. Paul Karol, chair of the IUPAC panel that verified the elements, said: “It will be a long time before we can find practical uses for the new elements.”
Why did researchers look for radioactive decays?
To detect the presence of the novel elements To determine the right time to crash nuclei into one another To see if the new elements could be put to practical use To calculate the half-life of the new elements