Can we create elements?
John Thompson
Updated on January 20, 2026
You can not create new elements by mixing different compounds. In order to create a new element you have to change the number of protons in a nucleus. It is possible to do this but it requires bombarding various elements, one with the other, by means of high energy particle accelerators.
Can elements be created?
Man-made elementsScientists discovered that, by allowing fast neutrons to collide with the common isotope of uranium known as U-238 in a nuclear reactor, the 'new' element plutonium was made. By smashing atoms together in machines known as particle accelerators, it was discovered that new elements could be made.
Can Human create new elements?
A synthetic element is one of 24 known chemical elements that do not occur naturally on Earth: they have been created by human manipulation of fundamental particles in a nuclear reactor, a particle accelerator, or the explosion of an atomic bomb; thus, they are called "synthetic", "artificial", or "man-made".Can we create natural elements?
Creating heavy elementsSince 1939, all newly discovered chemical elements have been synthesised in the laboratory. Most of these have been made using a particle accelerator. In the last year alone, researchers have created atoms of two new elements: 117 — known as ununseptium for now — and 115 — ununpentium.