How is an Element identified or named when it has yet to be isolated?

Answer 1

Until it is isolated and confirmed, it will have a temporary name, such as Ununhexium (atomic number 116) which has been reported but not yet confirmed.

Identification is usually by some form of mass spectrometry. Many of the higher atomic number elements are very short lived. All seem to be radioactive. The analysis of longer living decay products is a typical method of determining the Atomic number and mass of the new element.

Some elements like Technetium were suspected long before they were isolated. Technetium was the first artificially produced element. It's atomic number (43) was know because of a "hole" in the periodic table. It's atomic mass was determined after it was isolated.

Answer 2

Karen,

Elements are never named before they are isolated. Once a report is issued to IUPAC (the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) that a new element has been isolated, a temporary name based solely on the new element's atomic number is assigned but it is not officially considered an element. Once a full report is made and IUPAC is able to confirm the discovery of a new element, the discoverers are awarded the right to name the element. It is usually named for a well known scientist, or the place at which the element was discovered.

Answer 3

I think they based it on the periodic table of elements. The periodic table has some patterns so scientists have an idea of what comes next.

Also, some elements are simply named for their number. For example, the element ununbium is the 112th element.
um=1
un=1
bi=2

Answer 4

The discoverer usually names it. Madam Curie and her husband discovered and named radium. Later, after her husband died, she discovered Polonium. She was a native of Poland and an advocate for the Independence of Poland. She wrote that she was very angry with herself, for not attempting to name their first discovery Polonium (Latin for Poland), because radium became a sensation in the scientific world and revolutionized thinking on the nature of matter.