Curium Chemistry
Curium is highly radioactive. As a metal, it is lustrous and silvery. It is malleable, chemically reactive and electropositive.
Its surface rapidly oxidizes in air, gaining a thin film.
Most compounds of trivalent curium are stable and faintly yellow or yellow-green.
If absorbed in to the body, curium accumulates in the bones. Its radiation destroys red blood cell formation.
Consequently, curium is considered very toxic. Large quantities of curium are now easily made in nuclear reactors. A nuclear reactor is a device in which neutrons split atoms to release energy for electricity production.
1.Curium is highly radioactive and it glows red in the dark
2.Curium is mainly used for scientific research purposes
3. Curium-244 was used in the
Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer
(APXS) which measured the abundance of chemical elements in rocks and soils on Mars.
4. it has a melting point of 1340°C
Curium was identified by
Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James and Albert Ghiorso in 1944 at the wartime metallurgical laboratory at the University of
Chicago. Its production was the result of helium-ion bombardment of Plutonium-239 in the Berkeley, Calif., 60-inch cyclotron. Although curium follows americium in the periodic system, it was actually the third synthetically produced transuranium element to be discovered. 5. It was discovered by Glenn T.
Seaborg, Ralph A.James, and
Albert Ghiorso in 1944.
Atomic Number: 96
Atomic Symbol: Cm
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 2,453 F (1,345 C)
Boiling Point: 5,612 F (3,10 C) 0
Curium was first intentionally produced and identified in july 1944 at the university of
California but the discovery was kept a secret to the public until November 1945.
The first curium samples were barely visible, and were identified by their radioactivity. Louis Werner and Isadore
Perlman created the first substantial sample of 30 µg curium-242 hydroxide at the University of California in 1947 by bombarding americium-241 with neutrons.
Macroscopic amounts of curium
Its surface rapidly oxidizes in air, gaining a thin film.
Most compounds of trivalent curium are stable and faintly yellow or yellow-green.
If absorbed in to the body, curium accumulates in the bones. Its radiation destroys red blood cell formation.
Consequently, curium is considered very toxic. Large quantities of curium are now easily made in nuclear reactors. A nuclear reactor is a device in which neutrons split atoms to release energy for electricity production.
1.Curium is highly radioactive and it glows red in the dark
2.Curium is mainly used for scientific research purposes
3. Curium-244 was used in the
Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer
(APXS) which measured the abundance of chemical elements in rocks and soils on Mars.
4. it has a melting point of 1340°C
Curium was identified by
Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James and Albert Ghiorso in 1944 at the wartime metallurgical laboratory at the University of
Chicago. Its production was the result of helium-ion bombardment of Plutonium-239 in the Berkeley, Calif., 60-inch cyclotron. Although curium follows americium in the periodic system, it was actually the third synthetically produced transuranium element to be discovered. 5. It was discovered by Glenn T.
Seaborg, Ralph A.James, and
Albert Ghiorso in 1944.
Atomic Number: 96
Atomic Symbol: Cm
Atomic Weight: 247
Melting Point: 2,453 F (1,345 C)
Boiling Point: 5,612 F (3,10 C) 0
Curium was first intentionally produced and identified in july 1944 at the university of
California but the discovery was kept a secret to the public until November 1945.
The first curium samples were barely visible, and were identified by their radioactivity. Louis Werner and Isadore
Perlman created the first substantial sample of 30 µg curium-242 hydroxide at the University of California in 1947 by bombarding americium-241 with neutrons.
Macroscopic amounts of curium