americium
Sign in to saveAmericium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Am and atomic number 95. It is radioactive and a transuranic member of the actinide series in the periodic table, located under the lanthanide element europium and was thus named after the Americas by analogy.
AI overview
Americium is a man-made radioactive element (symbol Am, atomic number 95) that belongs to a special group of heavy elements called actinides and was named after the Americas by comparison to how europium relates to Europe. It matters because, as a synthetic element, it demonstrates humanity's ability to create new elements and has practical applications in nuclear science and technology.
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Article
29 sectionsContents
- History
- Occurrence
- Synthesis and extraction
- Isotope nucleosynthesis
- Metal generation
- Physical properties
- Chemical properties
- Chemical compounds
- Oxygen compounds
- Halides
- Chalcogenides and pnictides
- Silicides and borides
- Organoamericium compounds
- Biological aspects
- Fission
- Isotopes
- Applications
- Ionization-type smoke detector
- Radionuclide
- Neutron source
- Production of other elements
- Spectrometer
- Health concerns
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Americium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Am and atomic number 95. It is radioactive and a transuranic member of the actinide series in the periodic table, located under the lanthanide element europium and was thus named after the Americas by analogy.
Americium was first produced in 1944 by the group of Glenn T. Seaborg from Berkeley, California, at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, as part of the Manhattan Project. Although it is the third element in the transuranic series, it was discovered fourth, after the heavier curium. The discovery was kept secret and released to the public only in November 1945. Most americium is produced by uranium or plutonium being bombarded with neutrons in nuclear reactors – one tonne of spent nuclear fuel contains about 100 grams of americium. It is widely used in commercial ionization chamber smoke detectors, as well as in neutron sources and industrial gauges. Several unusual applications, such as nuclear batteries or fuel for space ships with nuclear propulsion, have been proposed for the isotope 242mAm, but they are as yet hindered by the scarcity and high price of this nuclear isomer.