Relativity plays a part in making element 112 very different to its counterparts in group 12
Copernicium – one of the longest-lived superheavy elements – should behave more like a noble gas than the noble gas group element in the same period, according to new computer simulations.1 The finding provides further evidence that relativity makes Mendeleev-style periodicity rules an ever-more unreliable guide to these enormous elements’ physical and chemical properties.