Periodic Table

Einsteinium

Actinide

Quick Facts about Einsteinium

Cf
  • solid- state of matter at room temperature
  • Radioactive- no stable isotopes exist
  • +3- common oxidation states in compounds
Fm

Einsteinium (Es) is element 99 on the periodic table. Atomic mass of Es: 252.0000 u. Es is in period 7. Melting point of Es: 1133.00 K.Density of Es: 8.84 g/cm³.

Why Einsteinium Matters

Einsteinium in everyday life and industry

In Your Home

  • No commercial applications exist
  • Used only in scientific research
  • Helps produce heavier elements
  • Only microgram quantities have ever been made

In Your Body

✗ Not essential

No biological role. Too rare for biological studies.

Safety: Einsteinium is radioactive and hazardous. Would be toxic like other actinides.

Discovery of Einsteinium

Discovered by Argonne, Los Alamos, U of Calif in United States, 1952

Name origin: Named in honor of the scientist Albert Einstein.

History & Events

1952
Named after Albert Einstein
1952
Discovered in debris from the first hydrogen bomb test (1952)
1952
Discovered by Ghiorso and colleagues at Berkeley
1955
Discovery was classified until 1955

About Einsteinium

Appearance is unknown, however it is most probably metallic and silver or gray in color. Radioactive metallic transuranic element belonging to the actinoids. Es-254 has the longest half-life of the eleven known isotopes at 270 days. First identified by Albert Ghiorso and associates in the debris of the 1952 hydrogen bomb explosion. In 1961 the first microgram quantities of Es-232 were separated. While einsteinium never exists naturally, if a sufficient amount was assembled, it would pose a radiation hazard.

Atomic Properties of Es

Atomic Number of Es
99
Atomic Mass of Es
252.0000 u
Electron Configuration
[Rn] 5f11 7s2
Electronegativity
1.30
Block
f-block
Group
Period
7

Physical Properties of Es

Phase (STP)
solid
Melting Point of Es
1133.00 K
Boiling Point of Es
1269.00 K
Density of Es
8.8400 g/cm3

Atomic Radii

Covalent
165 pm
Van der Waals
245 pm

Common Misconceptions

Wrong:Einstein discovered einsteinium.
Correct:The element honors Albert Einstein's contributions to physics; it was discovered by Ghiorso et al. in H-bomb fallout.
Wrong:Einsteinium was first synthesized in a laboratory.
Correct:Einsteinium was unexpectedly discovered in debris from the first hydrogen bomb test (Ivy Mike, 1952).
Wrong:Finding new elements in nuclear test fallout was expected.
Correct:The discovery of Es and Fm in bomb debris was a complete surprise—scientists were analyzing fallout for other purposes.

Isotopes of Einsteinium

Einsteinium has 0 naturally occurring isotopes, plus 1 notable radioactive isotope.

IsotopeAtomic Mass (u)AbundanceHalf-LifeDecay Mode
25299Es (Es-252)Einsteinium-252 isotope252.08298

Data source: NIH PubChem (aggregated from IUPAC, NIST)

Uses

It has no significant commercial applications.

Sources

Made by bombarding uranium with neutrons.

Geochemistry

Goldschmidt
synthetic

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