Category Elements

 

 

 

                     Element 98 is californium. It is a synthetic, radioactive element which is not found in nature. Californium represented with the symbol Cf, is named after the University of California, where it was first made in 1950. This radioactive metal is made from plutonium in nuclear reactors.

 

 

 

 

 

                    Einsteinium is named after the great scientist Albert Einstein. Its atomic number is 99, and it is represented as Es. Einsteinium, a synthetic element, is produced in extremely small amounts, and has a very short lifetime. Einsteinium was discovered during the examination of debris from the first hydrogen bomb test in November 1952.

 

 

 

 

                 Element number 100 is fermium, and it was discovered in 1953. It is named after Enrico Fermi, a nuclear physicist, who developed the first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear reactor.

                  Fermi had died in 1954, at the time when the research results on the newly discovered element were being presented. Fermium is represented as Fm.

 

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                     Americium is named after the Americas. Americium is created during the nuclear reactions of heavy elements. Scientists say that before its actual production in 1944, the element would have been likely created during nuclear experiments!

                     Americium is a highly radioactive element that can be dangerous when handled incorrectly and can cause severe illnesses. This element’s main use is in smoke detectors as part of fire-safety measures as it produces a tiny current that triggers alarm when it meets with particles of smoke. Its atomic number is 95, and it is represented as Am.

 

 

                   Curium is named in honour of Pierre and Marie Curie. It is a hard, dense and silvery metal. The element was identified by Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James and Albert Ghiorso in 1944 at the wartime metallurgical laboratory at the University of Chicago. Curium is produced from plutonium, and is used as a power source for pacemakers, navigational buoys and spacecraft. It has the atomic number 96, and its atomic symbol is Cm.

 

 

 

 

            Berkelium is named after a city called Berkeley, in California, where it was first discovered. Obtained from plutonium in nuclear reactors, less than one gram of it is produced each year. There is hardly any industrial significance for the element, other than scientific research. Berkelium is represented as Bk, and it has the atomic number 97.

 

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                          Uranium is named after the planet Uranus and the Greek god of the heavens. The element is radioactive; and therefore, exposure to the element by humans can pose immediate threat to life. Uranium, a silvery white metal, was discovered and identified in 1789 by a German chemist, Martin H. Klaproth. This important element is used as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity. It has the atomic number 92, and its atomic symbol is U.

 

 

 

                        Neptunium is the element number 93. It was discovered by Edwin McMillan and Philip Abelson, American physicists, in 1940. Compared to uranium, neptunium is not very radioactive. Neptunium’s current applications are limited. \The element is represented as Np.

 

 

 

  

 

                           Under standard conditions, plutonium is a hard, brittle, silvery metal. Plutonium is an extremely rare element in the earth’s crust. It is so rare that for many years, it was thought that it did not occur naturally.

                           Plutonium is used in both nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It was plutonium that was used in the creation of the second nuclear weapon deployed during World War II known as the ‘Fat Man’, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on 9th August 1945. Plutonium has the atomic number 94, and it is represented as Pu.

 

 

 

 

                Element number 89 is actinium. The element, discovered by Friedrich Oskar Giesel in 1902, is a silvery white radioactive metal. The word actinium comes from the Greek word ‘aktis’ or ‘aktinos’, which means beam or ray. It is so radioactive that it glows in the dark. The element’s radioactivity, its rarity and hence its high cost have made actinium the least industrially useful element. Actinium is represented as Ac.

 

                 

 

                        Element number 90, thorium is named after Thor, the Nordic god of thunder, lightning and storm. A highly radioactive element, thorium is a silvery, lustrous metal. It is potentially an alternative to uranium in fuelling nuclear reactors. In its liquid state, thorium has a greater temperature range than any is other element, with nearly 3,000 degrees Celsius. Since thorium is a health hazard, its use has steadily come down over the years. It is represented as Th.

 

 

 

 

 

                 Protactinium is a bright silvery metal. The element with the atomic number 91 decays to form another metal actinium. The name protactinium means before actinium. Discovery of the element is attributed to Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner. The element was isolated by Aristid von Grosse. It has no known uses.

                Protactinium’s atomic symbol is Pa.

 

 

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                 Can an element eventually become another element? Radon is produced when the element radium slowly decays. The element was discovered by Ernest Rutherford and Robert B. Owens. Radon is a colourless and odourless gas; however, it is dangerous because it gives off radiation. Some spas in Japan and Austria specialize in radon bathing, which supposedly makes people feel young and energetic again. It is represented as Rn, and its atomic number is 86.

 

 

 

 

                     Francium is named after the country of France. Francium was discovered by Marguerite Perey, a French chemist. It is an intensely radioactive element. It is one of the rarest elements in nature. Francium’s atomic number is 87, and it is represented as Fr.

 

 

 

 

                     Radium is a silvery white metal that quickly reacts with nitrogen in the air. The name of the element comes from the Latin word radius, meaning ‘ray’, as radium glows faintly in the dark. It is a poisonous, heavy, and radioactive metal. The element was discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. It has the atomic number 88, and is represented as Ra.

 

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                       Polonium was discovered by Marie Curie, a Polish physicist, in 1898. This element is a strongly radioactive metal. Polonium takes its name from Poland, Marie Curie’s motherland. Poland then was not an independent country and Curie hoped that naming the element after Poland would make

 her country’s plight known to the world!

                       Marie Curie isolated polonium from uranium ores and pitchblende, a uranium-rich mineral, in which it exists in tiny amounts. Polonium is used in nuclear reactors. It is represented as Po, and its atomic number is 84.

 

 

                        The existence of astatine had been predicted in the 1800s. Mendeleev in his periodic table had left an empty space after iodine, signifying a yet-to-be-found element. Astatine, however, was discovered much later in 1940 by Dale Corson, Kenneth McKenzie and Emilio Segre at the University of California, Berkeley.

                       Astatine is the rarest element on Earth; approximately 25 grams occur naturally on the planet at any given time.

                      Astatine has an important use in nuclear medicine, but it decays so quickly that it must be used within a matter of hours following production.

                     The atomic symbol of astatine is At, and its atomic number is 85.

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