Einsteinium

Einsteinium is a synthetic, radioactive transuranic chemical element that has that symbol Es and the atomic number of 99.

Chemistry

Einsteinium is the seventh element in the actinide series. There are 19 different radioactive isotopes, but the most stable one is Es-252, with a half-life of 471.1 days.

It is a soft silvery metal that is somewhat magnetic, though like all actinides, einsteinium is rather reactive. It has many oxides, and bonds with quite a few halogens to make halides.

History

Einsteinium is named after Albert Einstein. It was found for the first time in 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and his team of scientists in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion, and identified as an element at the University of California, Berkeley.

Uses

Einsteinium has been used to create the element Mendelevium for the first time in 1955, although no practical uses are known. It has been used before as a calibration marker in a chemical analysis spectrometer.

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