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What is Californium? Origin / Meaning of the name Californium
Named in honour of the U.S. state of California and for the
University of California, Berkeley.
What is Californium? Periodic Table Group and Classification of the Californium Element
Elements can be classified based on their physical states (States
of Matter) e.g. gas, solid or liquid. This element is a solid. Californium
classified as an element in the Actinide series as one of the
"Rare Earth Elements" which can located in Group 3 elements of the
Periodic Table and in the 6th and 7th periods. The Rare Earth
Elements are of the Lanthanide and Actinide series. Most of the
elements in the Actinide series are synthetic or man-made.
Nearly 75% of all the elements in the Periodic Table are
classified as metals which are detailed in the
List of Metals.
Facts about the
Discovery and
History of the
Californium
Element
In 1950 Stanley Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso and Glenn T.
Seaborg discovered Californium by bombarding curium-242 with alpha
particles, resulting in californium-245 (half-life 45 min). The discovery is credited to
the leader of the group, Glenn T. Seaborg.
Glenn T. Seaborg
The American scientist Glenn T. Seaborg (1912 - 1999) won the
1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry
of the transuranium elements". Glenn Seaborg contributed to the
discovery and isolation of ten elements: plutonium, americium,
curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium,
mendelevium, nobelium and element 106, which was named
seaborgium in his honor whilst he was still living. Glenn
Seaborg also developed the actinide concept, which led to the
current arrangement of the actinoid series in the periodic table
of the elements.
Glenn Seaborg (1912 - 1999)
What is Californium? Occurrence of the Californium Element
Man-made
Abundances of the element in different environments
% in Universe N/A
% in Sun None
% in Meteorites None
% in Earth's Crust None
% in Oceans None
% in Humans None
Associated Uses of Californium
Neutron moisture gauges
Portable neutron source in
Gold
and
Silver prospecting |
