physics

Kōsuke Morita

Kōsuke Morita is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kōsuke Morita rather than just read about it. In short: Kōsuke Morita (Japanese: 森田浩介 Hepburn: Morita Kōsukee, born January 23, 1957) is a Japanese experimental nuclear physicist, known as the leader of the Japanese team that discovered nihonium (element 113). He currently holds a joint appointment as a professor at Kyushu University’s Graduate School of Science and as director of the Super Heavy Element Research Group at Riken's Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Sci…

Key takeaways

Kōsuke Morita belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kōsuke Morita to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kōsuke Morita from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kōsuke Morita (Japanese: 森田浩介 Hepburn: Morita Kōsukee, born January 23, 1957) is a Japanese experimental nuclear physicist, known as the leader of the Japanese team that discovered nihonium (element 113). He currently holds a joint appointment as a professor at Kyushu University’s Graduate School of Science and as director of the Super Heavy Element Research Group at Riken's Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science.

Professional life Kōsuke Morita is a Japanese physicist specializing in experimental nuclear physics. He was born in 1957 in the city of Kitakyushu (北九州), located in the prefecture of Fukuoka. In 1979 he graduated from Kyushu University, where he would continue pursuing graduate studies. In 1984, he left Kyushu University after completing the doctoral program without receiving a degree. In an interview, Morita was asked why he left without finishing his PhD thesis. He responded, “The reason was simple: I did not have the talent to finish it". However, he returned to Kyushu University to complete his thesis in 1993, 9 years after beginning graduate studies. After leaving Kyushu University in 1984 Morita joined Riken as a postdoctoral researcher, later on becoming a junior research scientist at Riken's cyclotron Laboratory. In 1991, he was promoted to research scientist and in 1993 to senior research scientist. In 2006, he was appointed chief scientist of the Superheavy Element Laboratory at Riken's Nishina Center. Morita is currently a professor in the faculty of science at Kyushu University, where he has remained since his appointment in 2013. Additionally, he holds a position as the director of the Superheavy Element Production Team at Riken's Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science

Research achievements

Synthesis of nihonium Element 113 was first synthesized in 2004 by the Superheavy Element Production Team at Riken, under direction of Kōsuke Morita. The element was synthesized using a cold fusion approach, making it the heaviest element discovered using this production method. Synthesis of element 113 was accomplished by bombardment of a 209Bi target with 70Zn projectiles using a beam energy of 352.6 MeV. The experiment concluded with the synthesis of the 278113 isotope of element 113. Morita's team successfully synthesized element 113 in a total of three occasions: July 2004, April 2005, and August 2012. This achievement was officially recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry on December 31, 2015, granting Morita's team the element's naming rights. The name Nihonium was proposed, making reference to Japan's name (Japanese: 日本 Hepburn: Nihon). After a five-month public comment period, the union announced its formal approval on November 30, 2016. Nihonium is currently the only element to have been discovered by an Asian team. The team currently aims to discover element 119, whose provisional name is ununennium.

Work and education

1972 – Graduates from Beppu Municipal Central Junior High School (別府市中部中学校). 1975 – Graduates from Beppu Tsurumi Hill High School (別府鶴見丘高等学校) in Oita prefecture (大分県立). 1984 – Graduates from Kyushu University School of Physics. 1984 – Postdoctoral Researcher, Riken Cyclotron Laboratory. 1991 – Research Scientist, Riken Cyclotron Laboratory 1993 – Receives his PhD from Kyushu University. 1993 – Senior Research Scientist, Riken Cyclotron Laboratory 2004 – First synthesis of element 113 at Riken. 2006 – Chief Scientist and Director, Superheavy Element Laboratory, Nishina Center for Accelerator Research, Riken. 2013 – Professor, Kyushu University Graduate School of Science, Institute for Experimental Nuclear Physics

Awards 2005 – The GSI Exotic Nuclei Community Membership Award. 2005 – Nishina Memorial Prize (仁科記念賞). 2005 – Inoue Science Award (井上学術賞). 2006 – 11th Paper Award of the Physical Society of Japan (JPS) (Joint Award). 2012 – Nice Step Scientist (ナイスステップな科学者). 2016 – Japan Academy Prize ( 日本学士院賞). 2017 - Asahi Prize (朝日賞). 2017 - Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist

References

External links Interview with Kōsuke Morita (from the website of Kyushu University)

Illustrations

Kōsuke Morita: Morita at the press conference where the name Nihonium (symbol Nh) was officially announced for element 113 (December 1, 2016) — Morita at the press conference where the name Nihonium (symbol Nh) was officially announced for element 113 (December 1, 2016)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kōsuke Morita

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kōsuke Morita claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kōsuke Morita before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kōsuke Morita ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kōsuke Morita

In research: Kōsuke Morita appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kōsuke Morita in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kōsuke Morita is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1957 births, Japanese physicists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kōsuke Morita outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kōsuke Morita in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kōsuke Morita means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kōsuke Morita out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kōsuke Morita in simple terms?

Why does Kōsuke Morita matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kōsuke Morita?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kōsuke Morita.