Americium
Atomic Number: 95
Americium is the 95th element in the periodic table and it is part of the actinide family. Americium's most stable isotope, americium-243, has a half-life of about 7,370 years. It decays into neptunium-239 through alpha decay which is the process of releases alpha particles. Americium's main use is in smoke detectors. The alpha particles are used in the detectors as a sources to ionize air molecules. When there is smoke it triggers the detector by breaking the flow of ions. The amount of americium in a typical smoke detector is 0.29 micrograms. These alpha particles are not dangerous as they don't travel far. Americium is man made and is made by bombarding plutonium with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. It is said that americium could occur naturally but in very trace amounts. Americium was discovered in 1944 by the American scientists Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A, and Albert Ghiorso. This element was named after America due to this element being under europium (element named after Europe). |
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