einsteinium
Sign in to saveEinsteinium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Es and atomic number 99 and is a member of the actinide series and the seventh transuranium element.
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Einsteinium is a human-made chemical element (symbol Es, atomic number 99) that belongs to a group of heavy elements called actinides and sits seventh among elements heavier than uranium. It's primarily significant as a scientific achievement in nuclear chemistry, demonstrating humanity's ability to create new elements beyond those found in nature.
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Article
21 sectionsContents
- History
- Characteristics
- Physical
- Chemical
- Isotopes
- Nuclear fission
- Natural occurrence
- Synthesis and extraction
- Laboratory synthesis
- Synthesis in nuclear explosions
- Separation
- Preparation of the metal
- Chemical compounds
- Oxides
- Halides
- Organoeinsteinium compounds
- Applications
- Safety
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Einsteinium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Es and atomic number 99 and is a member of the actinide series and the seventh transuranium element.
Einsteinium was discovered as a component of the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952. Its most common isotope, einsteinium-253 (Es; half-life 20.47 days), is produced artificially from decay of californium-253 in a few dedicated high-power nuclear reactors with a total yield on the order of one milligram per year. The reactor synthesis is followed by a complex process of separating einsteinium-253 from other actinides and products of their decay. Other isotopes are synthesized in various laboratories, but in much smaller amounts, by bombarding heavy actinide elements with light ions. Due to the small amounts of einsteinium produced and the short half-life of its most common isotope, there are no practical applications for it except basic scientific research. In particular, einsteinium was used to synthesize, for the first time, 17 atoms of the new element mendelevium in 1955.