The linear particle accelerator at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany where hassium was discovered
6 October 2023
Hassium, element 108, was first synthesized in 1984 at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (Institute for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt, Germany. The discoverers proposed the name after Hassia, the modern Latin name for the state of Hesse in which Darmstadt is located. The name was proposed at a September 1992 meeting of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). From Chemical and Engineering News of 14 September 1992:
Names for the three heaviest known elements—atomic numbers 107, 108, and 109—were formally proposed last week during a ceremony held at the nuclear research facility in Darmstadt, Germany, where they were discovered between 1981 and 1984.
In the competitive and disputatious world of heavy-element discovery, these three elements are among the least controversial. But their naming has raised some eyebrows nonetheless.
Element 107 was named nielsbohrium (Ns), after Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who pioneered modern atomic theory. Element 108 was dubbed hassium (Hs), after Hassia, the Latin name for the German state of Hesse, where Darmstadt is located. And meitnerium (Mt) was the moniker given to element 109, after Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, one of the originators of the idea of nuclear fission.
The chemical symbol for hassium is Hs.
Sources:
Dagani, Ron. “Naming Heavy Elements: 107 to 109 Attract Least Controversy.” Chemical and Engineering News, 70.37, 14 September 1992, 4–5 at 4. DOI: 10.1021/cen-v070n037.p004.
Miśkowiec, Pawel. “Name Game: The Naming History of the Chemical Elements—Part 3—Rivalry of Scientists in the Twentieth Century.” Foundations of Chemistry, 12 November 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s10698-022-09452-9.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, March 2012, s.v. hassium, n.
Photo credit: Alexander Blecher, 2015. Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.