americium

(So named (America + -ium) by Glenn T. Seaborg, one of its discovers, by analogy with europium, the corresponding rare-earth metal) A radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, produced by the beta decay of an isotope of plutonium. It is used in smoke detectors.

Symbol: Am
Atomic number: 95
Atomic weight: 243 (isotope with the longest known half-life)
Density (at room temperature and pressure): 13.67 g/cc
Melting point: 1,176°C
Boiling point: 2,607°C
Ground state electron configuration: [Rn]5f⁷7s⁹

Americium
Symbol: Am
Atomic Number: 95
Atomic Weight: 243 (most stable)
Boiling Point: 2880 K
Melting Point: 1449 K
Density at 300K: 13.7 g/cm³
Covalent radius: ???
Atomic radius: ???
Atomic volume: 20.8 cm³/mol
First ionization potental: 6.0 V
Specific heat capacity: ??? Jg^-1K^-1
Thermal conductivity: 10 Wm^-1K^-1
Electrical conductivity: 0.7*10⁶Ω^-1m^-1
Heat of fusion: ??? kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization: ??? kJ/mol
Electronegativity: 1.3 (Pauling's)

Previous Plutonium---Curium Next
To the Periodic Table

Some uses for americium:

A neutron source for non-destructive testing of machinery and equipment

A thickness gauge for the glass industry

An ionisation source for smoke detectors (its most common use)