95. Americium
Name: Americium
Symbol: Am
Atomic Number: 95
Atomic Mass: (243.0) amu
Melting Point: 994.0 °C (1267.15 °K, 1821.2 °F)
Boiling Point: 2607.0 °C (2880.15 °K, 4724.6 °F)
Number of Protons/Electrons: 95
Number of Neutrons: 148
Classification: Rare Earth
Crystal Structure: Hexagonal
Density(293 K): 13.6 g/cm3
Color: Unknown
Americium appears to be more malleable than uranium or neptunium and americium tarnishes slowly in dry air at room temperature. Americium is a radioactive rare earth metal which must be handled with care to avoid contact, since it is a heavy α and γ emitter. It is named after America. The a activity of 241Am is about three times that of radium. Americium is available to qualified users in the UK and in the USA.
Americium was first synthesized by Glenn T. Seaborg, Leon O. Morgan, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso in late 1944 at the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago (now known as Argonne National Laboratory). The team created the isotope Am-241 by subjecting plutonium-239 to successive neutron capture reactions in a nuclear reactor. This created Pu-240 and then Pu-241 which in turn decayed into Am-241 via beta decay.
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