Mendelevium (Md)

Atomic Number101
Atomic Mass258 u
CategoryActinide
Electron Config[Rn] 5f¹³ 7s²
Melting Point1100 K
Electronegativity1.3 (Pauling)
Ionization Energy635 kJ/mol
Crystal StructureFace-centered Cubic (predicted)
Discovered ByLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1955)

Brief Introduction

Mendelevium (Md) is a radioactive actinide metal. It was the first element to be synthesized one atom at a time. Key details about Mendelevium (Md) are as follows:

Uses: No practical applications. Used only in scientific research to study the properties of heavy elements.

Production/Extraction: Produced by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles in particle accelerators. Only produced in atom-by-atom quantities.

History: Discovered in 1955 by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Bernard Harvey, Gregory Choppin, and Stanley Thompson at UC Berkeley. Named after Dmitri Mendeleev, creator of the periodic table.

Health Effects & Safety: Highly radioactive. Extreme rarity means limited toxicity data, but assumed to be highly dangerous.

Price/Market: Not commercially available. Produced only for research.

Properties: Radioactive, most stable isotope Md-258 has half-life of 51.5 days, melting point around 827°C (estimated).

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Periodic Table