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For crystal research | Atomic Number: | 95 | Atomic Symbol: | Am | | Atomic Weight: | 243 | Electron Configuration: | 2-8-18-32-25-8-2 | | Shells: | 2,8,18,32,25,8,2 | Filling Orbital: | 5f7 | | Melting Point: | 994oC | Boiling Point: | 2607oC | | Description: | Artificially created radioactive metal. |
History(the Americas) Americium was the fourth transuranic element to
be discovered; the isotope 241Am was identified by Seaborg, James, Morgan, and
Ghiorso late in 1944 at the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory of the University
of Chicago as the result of successive neutron capture reactions by plutonium
isotopes in a nuclear reactor.
Properties- The luster of freshly prepared americium metal is white and more silvery
than plutonium or neptunium prepared in the same manner.
- It appears to be more malleable than urnaium or neptunium and tarnishes
slowly in dry air at room temperature.
Handling- Americium must be handled with great care to avoid personal contamination.
- The alpha activity from 241Am is about three times that of radium.
- When gram quantities of 241Am are handled, the intense gamma activity makes
exposure a serious problem.
Uses- 241Am has been used as a portalbe source for gamma radiography.
- It has also been used as a radioactive glass thickness gage for the flat
glass industry and as a source of ionization for smoke detectors.
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