Chemistry is a science with a long history. Many famous scientists have contributed to its development. You can see the reflection of their achievements in the table of chemical elements, where there are substances named in their honor. What exactly and what is the history of their appearance? Consider the issue in detail.
Einsteinium
To start listing the chemical elements named after scientists is worth one of the most famous. Einstein was artificially obtained and named after the greatest physicist of the twentieth century. The element has atomic number 99, it does not have stable isotopes and belongs to transuranic, of which the seventh was discovered. He was identified by the team of the scientist Giorso in December 1952. Einstein can be found in the dust remaining as a result of a thermonuclear explosion. For the first time, work with him was carried out in the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California, and then in the Argonne and Los Alamos. The half-life of isotopes is twenty days, which makes Einsteinium not the most dangerous radioactive element. Studying it is quite difficult due to the difficulty of obtaining in artificial conditions. In the form of a metal with high volatility, it can be obtained as a result of a chemical reaction using lithium; the obtained crystals will differ in a face-centered cubic structure. In an aqueous solution, the element gives a green color.
Curium
The history of the discovery of chemical elements and related processes is impossible without mentioning the works of this family. Maria Sklodowska and Pierre Curie made a major contribution to the development of world science. Their work as founders of the science of radioactivity reflects the element named accordingly. Curium belongs to the actinoid family and has an atomic number of 96. It does not have stable isotopes. It was first received in 1944 by the Americans Seaborg, James and Giorso. Some curium isotopes have an incredibly long half-life. In a nuclear reactor, they can be created in kilogram quantities when neutrons are irradiated with uranium or plutonium.
The curium element is a silver metal with a melting point of one thousand three hundred and forty degrees Celsius. It is separated from the rest of the actinides by ion exchange methods. The strong heat release during
radioactive decay allows it to be used for the manufacture of compact-sized current sources. Other chemical elements, named after scientists, often do not have such actual practical application, while curium can serve to create generators that can work for several months.
Mendelevium
It is impossible to forget about the creator of the most important classification system in the history of chemistry. Mendeleev was one of the greatest scientists of past years. Therefore, the history of the discovery of chemical elements is reflected not only in his table, but also in the names in his honor. The substance was obtained in 1955 by the American scientists Harvey, Gyorso, Choppin, Thompson and Seaborg. The Mendelium element belongs to the actinoid family and has an atomic number of 101. It is radioactive and occurs in the process of a nuclear reaction involving Einstein. As a result of the first experiments, American scientists managed to get only seventeen atoms of Mendelium, but even this amount was enough to determine its properties and placement in the periodic table.
Nobelium
The discovery of chemical elements often occurs as a result of artificial processes in laboratory conditions. This also applies to Nobel, which was first received in 1957 by a group of scientists from Stockholm, who proposed to name it in honor of the founder of the fund of international scientific awards. The element has atomic number 102, it belongs to the actinoid family. Reliable data on nobelium isotopes were obtained in the sixties by researchers from the Soviet Union, headed by Flerov. For the synthesis of the nucleus, U, Pu, and Am were irradiated with O, N, Ne ions. As a result, isotopes with mass numbers from 250 to 260 were obtained, the most long-lived of which was an element with a half-life of one and a half hours. The volatility of nobelium chloride is close to that of other actinides, also obtained in laboratory experiments.
Lawrence
A chemical element from the family of actinides with atomic number 103, like many others, was obtained artificially. Lawrence has no stable isotopes. For the first time it was synthesized by an American scientist, headed by Giorso, in 1961. It was not possible to repeat the results of the experiments anymore, but the element name that was initially selected remains the same. Information on isotopes was obtained by Soviet physicists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. They obtained them by irradiating americium with accelerated oxygen ions. It is known that the lawrence nucleus emits radioactive radiation, and the half-life takes about half a minute. In 1969, scientists from Dubna managed to obtain other isotopes of the element. Physicists from the American University of Berkeley created new ones in 1971. Their mass numbers ranged from 257 to 260, and the most stable was an isotope with a half-life of three minutes in length. The chemical properties of lawrence resemble those of other heavy actinides - this was established through several scientific experiments.
Rutherfordium
When listing chemical elements named after scientists, this one is also worth mentioning. Rutherfordium is numbered 104 and is part of the fourth group of the periodic table. For the first time, this group of scientists from Dubna succeeded in creating this transuranic element in 1964. This happened during the bombardment of a California atom by carbon nuclei. It was decided to name the new element in honor of the chemist Rutherford from New Zealand. Rutherfordium does not occur in nature. Its longest-lived isotope has a half-life of sixty-five seconds. There is no practical application for this element of the periodic table.
Siborgiy
The discovery of chemical elements has become a major part of the career of the physicist Albert Gyorso from the United States. Seaborgium was obtained by him in 1974. It is a chemical element from the sixth group of the periodic table with an atomic number of 106 and a weight of 263. It was discovered as a result of the bombardment of California atoms by oxygen nuclei. In the process, only a few atoms were obtained, so it was difficult to study the properties of the element in detail. In nature, the radioactive metal siborgium does not occur, therefore, it is of purely scientific interest.
Borium
Enumerating the chemical elements named after scientists, this one is worth mentioning. Borium belongs to the seventh group of the periodic table. It has atomic number 107 and weight 262. It was first received in 1981 in Germany, in the city of Darmstadt. Scientists Armbrusten and Mansenberg decided to name it in honor of Niels Bohr. The preparation of the element occurred as a result of the bombardment of a bismuth atom by chromium nuclei. Borium refers to transuranium metals. In the course of the experiment, only a few atoms were obtained, which is not enough for in-depth study. Unparalleled in living nature, boron has a value exclusively within the framework of scientific interest, just like the above Rutherfordium, also created artificially in the laboratory.