Fermium
| Symbol | Fm |
| Atomic Number | 41 |
| Atomic Mass | (257) g.mol -¹ |
| Discovered by | Albert Ghiorso and colleagues in 1953 |
Chemical Properties of Fermium
| Group | Actinides | Melting point | 1527°C, 2781°F, 1800 K |
| Period | 7 | Boiling point | Unknown |
| Block | f | Density (g cm−3) | Unknown |
| Atomic number | 100 | Relative atomic mass | [257] |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 257Fm |
| Electron configuration | [Rn] 5f127s2 | CAS number | 7440-72-4 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22432 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
What is Fermium?
- Fermium is a transuranic radioactive element and a member of the actinide series in the periodic table of elements.
- Fermium was first discovered by Albert Ghiorso and others during the work involving at New Mexico and the University of California at Berkeley in the radioactive fallout from a nuclear test in the Pacific Ocean.
- So far, not enough fermium has been made to analyze its chemical properties, but it is predicted that it would be a metal susceptible to attack by acids, steam, and air.
- Fermium is produced in small quantities and does not have an extended half-life.
Uses of Fermium
- As fermium is found in very small quantities and all of its isotopes have very short lives, there is no commercial use for the element.
- The scientists make use of this element in their research in expanding their knowledge on the rest of the periodic table.
Properties of Fermium
- The most stable isotope of Fermium, that is fermium-257 has a half-life of around 100.5 days. The isotope can be decayed into californium-253 with alpha decay or through spontaneous fission.
Certain Facts About Fermium
- It no longer exists naturally on earth but earlier it was known to have been produced in natural reactor deposits.
- As it does not occur naturally, it has no known health hazards facts and effects.
- Today fermium can be obtained in microgram quantities by bombarding neutrons of plutonium inside a nuclear reactor. The 257Fm and other higher isotopes can be produced with this process.
