Fermium is a synthetic element in the periodic table that has the symbol Fm and atomic number 100. A highly radioactive metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, fermium is made by bombarding plutonium with neutrons and is named after nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi.

Notable characteristics

---

Only small amounts of fermium have ever been produced or isolated. Thus relatively little is known about its chemical properties. Only the (III) oxidation state of the element appears to exist in aqueous solution. ²⁵⁴Fm and heavier isotopes can be synthesized by intense neutron bombardment of lighter elements (especially uranium and plutonium). During this, successive neutron captures mixed with beta decays build the fermium isotope. The intense neutron bombardment conditions needed to create fermium exist in thermonuclear explosions and can be replicated in the laboratory (such as in the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory). The synthesis of element 102 (nobelium) was confirmed when ²⁵⁰Fm was chemically identified. There are no known uses of fermium outside of basic research. Fermium is the eighth transuranic element.

History

---

Fermium (after Enrico Fermi) was first discovered by a team led by Albert Ghiorso in 1952. The team found ²⁵⁵Fm in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion (see Operation Ivy). That isotope was created when ²³⁸U combined with 17 neutrons in the intense temperature and pressure of the explosion (eight beta decays also occurred to create the element). The work was overseen by the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory whose team members included Ghiorso, Stanley G. Thompson, Gary H. Higgins, Glenn T. Seaborg (from the Radiation Laboratory and Department of Chemistry of the University of California), Martin H. Studier, P.R. Fields, Sherman M. Fried, H. Diamond, J.F. Mech, G.L. Pyle, John R. Huizenga, A. Hirsch, W.M. Manning (from the Argonne National Laboratory), C.I. Browne, H. Louise Smith, and R.W. Spence (from the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory). Samples of sea coral impacted from the first thermonuclear explosion of November 1952 were used.

More on [ Fermium ]

Fermium - Twitter Search

@DylPage If you can find Vandium, Fermium, Californium, Technicium, Rhodium, and a majority of the others, you have to share that with me
skynetmain (Elliot Hayter) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:28:35 -0000
@DylPage If you can find Vandium, Fermium, Californium, Technicium, Rhodium, and a majority of the others, you have to share that with me
RT @punnoi: @app_review ตอนนี้ใช้ twitterriffic ตัวฟรี ไม่รู้จะใช้ได้อีกนานแค่ไหน >>ตัวฟรีจะใช้ไปได้เรื่อยๆจ้าเพราะว่ามี ads+fermium support
app_review (app_review) Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:15:49 -0000
RT @punnoi: @app_review ตอนนี้ใช้ twitterriffic ตัวฟรี ไม่รู้จะใช้ได้อีกนานแค่ไหน >>ตัวฟรีจะใช้ไปได้เรื่อยๆจ้าเพราะว่ามี ads+fermium support
@lidewij Calcium, Chromium, Curium. Sulphur, Californium, Fermium, Berkelium, Mendelevium, Einsteinium, Nobelium, Argon, Krypton, Neon
TheMadVender (Tom) Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:50:19 -0000
@lidewij Calcium, Chromium, Curium. Sulphur, Californium, Fermium, Berkelium, Mendelevium, Einsteinium, Nobelium, Argon, Krypton, Neon
Cadmium Calcium Chromium Curium Sulphur Californium Fermium Berkelium Mendelevium Einsteinium Nobelium Argon Krypton Neon Radon Xenon...
The_El_Machine (Eliot) Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:49:22 -0000
Cadmium Calcium Chromium Curium Sulphur Californium Fermium Berkelium Mendelevium Einsteinium Nobelium Argon Krypton Neon Radon Xenon...

Subscribe to Fermium RSS feed