Atomic Properties of Cm
- Atomic Number of Cm
- 96
- Atomic Mass of Cm
- 247.0000 u
- Electron Configuration
- [Rn] 5f7 6d1 7s2
- Electronegativity
- 1.28
- Block
- f-block
- Group
- —
- Period
- 7
Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James, and Albert Ghiorso produced curium in 1944 by bombarding plutonium-239 with alpha particles. The element's famous name honors Marie and Pierre Curie, linking a synthetic actinide to pioneers of radioactivity. Its discovery was initially classified, then announced after the war.
Curium isotopes are strong alpha emitters. A concentrated compound can generate heat from decay and may show a faint glow because radiation excites surrounding material, but curium does not simply glow with a warm red light like a coal. Visible appearance depends on chemical form, concentration, and interactions, while the central laboratory fact is intense radioactivity.
Curium-244, with a half-life near 18 years, produces substantial decay heat and has been considered for radioisotope power. It is not the standard fuel of the deep-space generators used on famous missions, which primarily use plutonium-238. Curium-242 has powered specialized experimental sources, and curium isotopes have contributed alpha particles in instruments and nuclear research.
Longer-lived curium-247 persists for millions of years. All isotopes require containment because material taken into the body can irradiate tissue, and spontaneous-fission neutrons complicate work with some samples. Curium also serves as a target or starting material for producing heavier elements.
This Corebound namesake honors the Curies best through exact measurement. Decay creates heat, sometimes secondary light, and useful particles; none of those effects remove the demanding controls. The legacy is patient evidence, with every isotope and application named correctly.