How are new elements discovered?

There are probably nearly as many answers to this question as there are elements. Many elements were found more or less by accident. Others were discovered as a result of research into a particular compound or mineral. Others were predicted to exist – on the basis of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table, for example – so the discoverer knew what he or she was looking for. However, from time to time a new chemical technique is developed or discovered that leads to the discovery of several new elements in a short time. You can use the interactive Periodic Table to investigate this idea.

You should see that there are several periods in which many elements were discovered with periods of time in between when none were discovered. Some of the bursts of discovery were caused by the development of new chemical techniques.

It is a great achievement to discover a single element out of the 111 or so that are now known. So you may be surprised to find that there are several people who have discovered more than one element, in one case as many as 11. Here are some brief descriptions of the work of some chemists who discovered more than one element. In many cases they took advantage of a new technique.

• Jons Jacob Berzelius – reaction with carbon

• Humphry Davy – electrolysis

• Robert Bunsen – flame colours

• William Ramsay – the distillation of liquid air

• Marie Curie - radioactive elements

• Glenn T Seaborg – making new elements with sub-atomic particles