Lawrencium (Lr)
| Atomic Number | 103 |
|---|---|
| Atomic Mass | 266 u |
| Category | Actinide |
| Electron Config | [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 7s² 7p¹ |
| Melting Point | 1900 K |
| Electronegativity | 1.3 (Pauling) |
| Ionization Energy | 470 kJ/mol |
| Crystal Structure | Hexagonal (predicted) |
| Discovered By | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1961) |
Brief Introduction
Lawrencium (Lr) is a radioactive actinide metal and the last member of the actinide series. Key details about Lawrencium (Lr) are as follows:
Uses: No practical applications. Used only in scientific research to study the properties of heavy elements and test theoretical predictions.
Production/Extraction: Produced by bombarding californium with boron ions in particle accelerators. Only a few atoms are produced at a time.
History: Discovered in 1961 by Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon Larsh, and Robert Latimer at UC Berkeley. Named after Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron.
Health Effects & Safety: Highly radioactive. Extreme rarity means no health data, but assumed to be extremely dangerous.
Price/Market: Not commercially available. Produced only for research.
Properties: Radioactive, most stable isotope Lr-266 has half-life of 11 hours, melting point around 1627°C (estimated), predicted to have properties transitioning between actinides and transition metals.