Einsteinium [SEP] named after
Einsteinium
Einsteinium is a synthetic element with the symbol Es and atomic number 99. As a member of the actinide series, it is the seventh transuranic element.
Einsteinium was discovered as a component of the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, and named after Albert Einstein. Its most common isotope einsteinium-253 (half-life 20.47 days) is produced artificially from decay of californium-253 in a few dedicated high-power nuclear reactors with a total yield on the order of one milligram per year. The reactor synthesis
life of 51 days; nevertheless, the shorter-lived Md (half-life 1.17 hours) is most commonly used in chemistry because it can be produced on a larger scale.
Mendelevium was discovered by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles in 1955, the same method still used to produce it today. It was named after Dmitri Mendeleev, father of the periodic table of the chemical elements. Using available microgram quantities of the isotope einsteinium-253, over a million mendelevium atoms may be produced each hour. The chemistry of