If some of the elements on the periodic table can only be produced in a lab, why are they considered elements?

Question

Some of the high number elements only last for seconds or less, why do they get a spot on the table if they would never be found naturally?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Because they still exist? The periodic table isn’t a list of things you’ll find in your yard – it is a list of the nuclear elements which we have observed.

As for why studying things that don’t naturally exist is *useful*, the elements which only exist for brief periods often play a crucial role in nuclear chemistry. Nuclear reactors, for instance, would not be practically possible without ‘delayed neutrons’ from these elements.