Mendelevium
Mendelevium (also known as unnilunium) is a synthetic element in the periodic table with the symbol Md (formerly Mv) and the atomic number 101. A metallic radioactive transuranic element of the actinides, mendelevium is synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles and was named after Dmitri Mendeleev.
Notable characteristics
Researchers have shown that mendelevium has a moderately stable dipositive (II) oxidation state in addition to the more characteristic (for actinide elements) tripositive (III) oxidation state. Md-256 has been used to find out some of the chemical properties of this element while in an aqueous solution. There are no other uses of mendelevium and only trace amounts of the element have ever been produced.
History
Mendelevium (for Dmitri Mendeleyev, surname commonly spelt as Mendeleev, Mendeléef, or even Mendelejeff, and first name sometimes spelt as Dmitry or Dmitriy) was first synthesized by Albert Ghiorso (team leader), Glenn T. Seaborg, Bernard Harvey, and Greg Choppin in early 1955. The team produced Md-256 (half-life of 76 minutes) when they bombarded an einsteinium-253 target with alpha particles (helium nuclei) in the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory's 60-inch cyclotron (Md-256 was synthesized one-atom-at-a-time). Element 101 was the ninth transuranic element synthesized.
Isotopes
15 radioisotopes of mendelevium have been characterized, with the most stable being Md-258 with a half-life of 51.5 days, Md-260 with a half-life of 31.8 days, and Md-257 with a half-life of 5.52 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lifes that are less than 97 minutes, and the majority of these have half-lifes that are less than 5 minutes. This element also has 1 meta state, 258m-Md (t½ 57 minutes). The isotopes of mendelevium range in atomic weight from 245.091 amu (Md-245) to 260.104 amu (Md-260).
ReferencesLos Alamos National Laboratory - MendeleviumGuide to the Elements - Revised Edition, Albert Stwertka, (Oxford University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-19-508083-1It's Elemental - Mendelevium
External links WebElements.com - MendeleviumEnvironmentalChemistry.com - Mendelevium
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