Which element was first synthesized in 1996 at the GSI in Germany?

Which element was first synthesized in 1996 at the GSI in Germany? Copernicium was first synthesized there.

Copernicium is the synthetic element with symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Researchers at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, now the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research near Darmstadt, first created it on 9 February 1996.

The experiment fused accelerated zinc-70 nuclei with lead-208 nuclei. The reaction produced a single observed atom of copernicium-277, which quickly decayed. Such experiments are extraordinarily difficult because superheavy nuclei are made one atom at a time and usually survive for only brief periods.

The discovery claim required further scrutiny and confirmation. GSI repeated the experiment in 2000, while later work at RIKEN helped confirm the decay data. IUPAC officially recognized the GSI team’s discovery in 2009 and approved the name copernicium in 2010, honoring astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Flerovium, roentgenium, and darmstadtium are also synthetic elements, but they have different atomic numbers and discovery histories.