Americium
Americium is a chemical element. It is a radioactive metal. It has the chemical symbol Am. It has the atomic number 95. In chemistry it is placed in a group of metal elements named the actinides. Americium is a transuranic element (Transuranic means after uranium. All the elements used after uranium are man-made). It is a radioactive element that does not exist in nature. Americium has to be made. It has a silver color. Americium is made by bombarding a plutonium target with neutrons.
It was the fourth transuranic element to be discovered. It was named for America, like Francium was named for France.[1][2]
The longest half life of any type of americium is 7370 years.[3]
UsesEdit
Americium is used in most smoke detectors. The level of radioactivity is not enough to cause cancer, so it is safe to live in a place where smoke detectors with americium are used.
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Kostecka, Keith (2008). "Americium – From Discovery to the Smoke Detector and Beyond" (PDF). Bull. Hist. Chem. 33 (2): 89–93. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
- ↑ "C&En: It's Elemental: The Periodic Table - Americium".
- ↑ "Americium Video - The Periodic Table of Videos - University of Nottingham". www.periodicvideos.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
