- Ausonium
Ausonium (
atomic symbol Ao) was the name assigned to the element withatomic number 93, now known asneptunium . It was named after a Greek name of Italy,Ausonia .The same team assigned the namehesperium to element 94, after Hesperia, a poetic name of Italy.The discovery of the element, now discredited, was made by
Enrico Fermi and a team of scientists at the University of Rome in 1934. Following the discovery ofnuclear fission in 1938, it was realized that Fermi's discovery was actually a mixture ofbarium ,krypton , and other elements. The actual element was discovered several years later, and assigned the name neptunium.Fascist authorities wanted one of the elements to be named "
littorio " after the Roman "lictor es" who carried the "fasces ", a symbol appropriated by Fascism.ee also
*
Bohemium , a 1934 claim for element 93 byOdolen Koblic .
*Sequanium , a 1938 claim for element 93 byHoria Hulubei andYvette Cauchois .References
* [http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/elem/np.html Element name etymologies] . Retrieved
February 4 ,2007 .
*Enrico Fermi, [http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1938/fermi-lecture.pdf Artificial radioactivity produced by neutron bombardment] , Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1938.
*cite journal | title = The Search for Transuranium Elements and the Discovery of Nuclear Fission | journal = Physics in Perspective | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | year = 2000 | doi = 10.1007/s000160050036 | pages = 48–62| first = Ruth Lewin | last = Sime
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