Americium

95
Am
243

Americium.jpg (54011 bytes)
Americium is used in smoke detectors.

Properties
Symbol Name Atomic Number Atomic Weight Group Number
Am Americium 95 243

Description

Standard State: solid at 298 K
Color: silvery white

Americium was identified by Seaborg, James, Morgan and Ghiroso in the later half of 1944. Can be prepared in pure form by extraction as a decay product from neutron bombarded plutonium.  Must handled with great care because of the contamination to the person handling of Americium.  It is used as a portable source for gamma radiography.