Science students everywhere could soon be memorising the name of a new addition to the periodic table, when a super-heavy element co-created by Australian researchers is added to the chart.

The element was created in a German laboratory by a multinational team of physicists and chemists including Australian National University (ANU) researchers who lent their expertise and specialised equipment to the task.

Professor David Hinde, director of the heavy ion accelerator facility at the Department of Nuclear Physics, ANU. Credit:Graham Tidy

Temporarily known as element 117 – after the number of protons in its nucleus – the new element's atoms match the heaviest ever observed and are 40 per cent heavier than lead.

It will soon have a catchier name when it is officially recognised by the international body of scientists behind the periodic table, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).