Synthetic elements are unstable chemical elements and they are not naturally found on the earth. These elements are synthesized in the laboratory. All of them are unstable and radioactive in nature, which means they emit radiations and decay into other elements. Their discovery helped to fill the empty gaps in the periodic table, and they were later produced for research purposes. List of Synthetic Elements There are 118 elements in the periodic table, out of which 92 are natural elements and the remaining are synthetic elements. Technetium (atomic number 43) was the first synthetic element discovered, that filled the mysterious gap between the elements, Molybdenum (atomic weight 42) and Ruthenium (atomic weight 44) in the periodic table. Promethium (atomic number 61), Astatine (atomic number 85), Francium (atomic number 87) and the transuranium elements constitute the synthetic elements. Transuranium elements are those elements whose atomic number is greater than Uranium (atomic weight 92). Here's the list of all the synthetic elements.

Element	Symbol	At. No.
Technetium	Tc	43
Promethium	Pm	61
Astatine	At	85
Francium	Fr	87
Neptunium	Np	93
Plutonium	Pu	94
Americium	Am	95
Curium	Cm	96
Berkelium	Bk	97
Californium	Cf	98
Einsteinium	Es	99
Fermium	Fm	100
Mendelevium	Md	101
Nobelium	No	102

Element	Symbol	At. No.
Lawrencium	Lr	103
Rutherfordium	Rf	104
Dubnium	Db	105
Seaborgium	Sg	106
Bohrium	Bh	107
Hassium	Hs	108
Meitnerium	Mt	109
Darmstadtium	Ds	110
Roentgenium	Rg	111
Copernicium	Cn	112
Ununtrium	Uut	114
Ununpentium	Uup	115
Ununseptium	Uus	117
Ununoctium	Uuo	118

Production Synthetic elements were first discovered in 1937, and technitium was the first element to be synthesized. These elements are produced by the process of nuclear fusion. Nuclear reactors or particle accelerators are used to produce these elements. In particle accelerators, particles of two elements are made to collide with each other at a very high speed. As the nuclei of the two elements merge into each other, a larger element is formed. Neutrons, alpha particles, deuterons, etc are called projectiles. When they are pelted on a heavy element, a new element is formed. Technetium was produced by bombarding deuterons on molybdenum. Later, it was discovered that uranium could be pelted by neutrons to form new elements. The first transuranium element, neptunium, was formed by this process. It took 20 years for scientists to produce the elements from plutonium to lawrencium (refer to the list of synthetic elements). Naming IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), has named almost all the synthetic elements. While some are named after the place where they were discovered (americium and californium ), most of these elements are named after the scientist who discovered them (einsteinium, curium, mendelevium, etc). For naming any element, its existence must be proved by its discoverer. Elements are referred to by provisional names, until they are named officially. The elements from ununbium to ununoctium are yet to get their official names, and therefore, are known by their provisional names. Curium is named after the famous scientist Pierre Curie and his wife Marie Curie. Similarly, mendelevium is named after Dmitri Mendeleev, the scientist who framed the periodic table. Uses Technetium is used in medicine, wherein it plays an important role in medical tests that use radioactive elements. It is also used as a catalyst in some chemical reactions. Plutonium is used as a fuel in many nuclear reactors. The atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, in 1945, had plutonium. Americium is used in smoke detectors. There are very few applications of synthetic elements and they are generally used to produce new elements. Most of them are produced just to study their properties. The discovery of synthetic elements was a turning point in the history of chemical elements. Dr. Glenn Seaborg and Dr. Edwin McMillan were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery of the transuranium elements.