The Element Einsteinium
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Atomic Number: 99
Atomic Weight: 252
Melting Point: 1133 K (860°C or 1580°F)
Boiling Point: Unknown
Phase at Room Temperature: Solid
Element Classification: Metal
Period Number: 7 Group Number: none Group Name: Actinide
Radioactive and Artificially Produced
What's in a name? Named after the scientist Albert Einstein.
Say what? Einsteinium is pronounced as ine-STINE-ee-em.
History and Uses:
Einsteinium was discovered by a team of scientists led by Albert Ghiorso in 1952 while studying the radioactive debris produced by the detonation of the first hydrogen bomb. The isotope they discovered, einsteinium-253, has a half-life of about 20 days and was produced by combining 15 neutrons with uranium-238, which then underwent seven beta decays. Today, einsteinium is produced though a lengthy chain of nuclear reactions that involves bombarding each isotope in the chain with neutrons and then allowing the resulting isotope to undergo beta decay.
Einsteinium's most stable isotope, einsteinium-252, has a half-life of about 471.7 days. It decays into berkelium-248 through alpha decay or into californium-252 through electron capture.
Since only small amounts of einsteinium have ever been produced, it currently has no uses outside of basic scientific research.
Estimated Crustal Abundance: Not Applicable
Estimated Oceanic Abundance: Not Applicable
Number of Stable Isotopes: 0 (View all isotope data)
Ionization Energy: 6.42 eV
Oxidation States: +3
3s2 3p6 3d10
4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14
5s2 5p6 5d10 5f11