What is Einsteinium?
Einsteinium (pronounced as ine-STINE-ee-em) is a radioactive metal, belonging to the family of transuranium elements, and denoted by the chemical symbol Es. It has 16 isotopes out of which einsteinium-252 is the most stable one with a half-life of 47.1 days. The element is named after the renowned German physicist, Albert Einstein. Continue reading from Chemistry Learner
The History
Einsteinium was discovered during the examination of debris from the first hydrogen bomb test in November 1952, according to Chemicool. A team of scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and led by Albert Ghiorso, an American nuclear scientist at Berkeley, studied the debris collected by drones using chemical analysis. Minuscule amounts of einsteinium-253, an isotope of einsteinium, were discovered (less than 200 atoms, according to an article printed in Nature Chemistry by Joanne Redfern, a British science writer, in 2016). Fermium, the 100th element, was also discovered in the debris. Continue reading from Live Science
Einsteinium Facts
Einsteinium is harmful due to its radioactivity. Einsteinium is a synthetic, highly radioactive metal that has only been produced in tiny amounts. It is the first divalent metal in the actinide series (two bonding electrons rather than three). Einsteinium is of research interest only. Continue reading from Chemicool
