End of The Periodic Table
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The number of physically possible elements is unknown. A low estimate is that the periodic table may end soon after the island of stability, which is expected to center around Z = 126, as the extension of the periodic and nuclides tables is restricted by the proton and the neutron drip lines; however, some, such as Walter Greiner, predict that there may not be an end to the periodic table at all. Other predictions of an end to the periodic table include Z = 128 (John Emsley) and Z = 155 (Albert Khazan).
Although Richard Feynman noted that a simplistic interpretation of the relativistic Dirac equation runs into problems with electron orbitals at Z > 1/α = 137, suggesting that neutral atoms cannot exist beyond untriseptium, and that a periodic table of elements based on electron orbitals therefore breaks down at this point, a more rigorous analysis calculates the limit to be Z ≈ 173, but also that this limit would not actually spell the end of the periodic table.
Read more about this topic: Extended Periodic Table
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