coin 復習
九州大学の森田教授率いる理研チームは、新しく発見した113番目の元素記号に"nihonium"と名付け、元素記号としては、Nhと表示されるそうです。
Japanese scientists name atomic element 113 ‘nihonium’
Japanese scientists who discovered the atomic element 113 named it “nihonium” Wednesday evening.
The team of researchers at Riken institute coined the name from “Nihon,” meaning Japan in Japanese, and gave the superheavy synthetic element the atomic symbol “Nh.”
The team, led by Kyushu University professor Kosuke Morita, secured the naming rights in December after creating the element three times in 2004, 2005 and 2012.
While a U.S.-Russian team claimed to have discovered the element earlier than the Riken team, a joint working group set up by the International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics concluded the Riken team had discovered it.
Morita proposed the name to the IUPAC in March for review. After the announcement Wednesday evening, the organization is expected to invite public comments on the name before formally deciding around the end of the year.
The element has 113 protons in its nucleus. Morita’s group created the element by colliding zinc ions with bismuth, which have 30 protons and 83 protons, respectively.
Naming the elements after the country where they were discovered is one of the most common naming methods. Polonium is named after Poland, francium is named after France and americium is named after the United States.
記事の中で気になった単語は、"coined"です。"coin"を『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版(大修館)で引くと、名詞で「硬貨、小銭、金」という意味の他に、動詞で1.「(硬貨を)鋳造する」2.「(新語・うそなど)を創り出す」という意味があることが分かりました。
ここでは、"nihonium"は日本初の元素ということで"nihon"(日本)に"ium"が付いた造語であることを表しています。
因みに、"-ium"は、同辞書で「金属元素名の語尾」とありました。(Akim)
