Californium Element in Periodic Table | Atomic Number Atomic Mass

Californium Element:

Californium is a chemical element belonging to the 7^th period or actinide series of the periodic table. It is denoted by the symbol Cf and its atomic number is 98. It is prepared in laboratory by bombarding curium with alpha particles. It has silvery metallic luster and slowly tarnishes on exposure to air at room temperature. The pure metal is malleable and can easily be cut with a razor blade. Out of the twenty known isotopes, californium with mass number 251 is found to be the most stable with a half-life of 858 years.

Californium metal becomes either ferromagnetic or ferromagnetic (acts like a magnet) below -251ºC and above -113ºC it exhibits paramagnetic characters by getting magnetised by external magnetic field. It exhibits oxidation states of +4,+3 and +2, most prominent among them being +3.

Uses Of Californium Element:

Californium has the property of emitting neutrons and hence it used in starting up reactions in nuclear reactors. It is used in portable metal detectors for identifying gold and silver metal ores. It is also used in identifying water and oil layers in oil wells and to detect wear-and-tear/physical erosion of metal parts in aeroplanes.

Californium Element Information:

Discovery year:1950

Discovered by:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Atomic number: 98

Relative atomic mass: [251]

Electron configuration: [Rn] 5f¹⁰ 7s²

Block: f-block

Other elements in the same block:

Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium, Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium and  Lawrencium are the elements in the same block.

Period: period 7

Other elements in the same period:

Francium, Radium, Actinium, Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium, Lawrencium, Rutherfordium, Dubnium, Seaborgium, Bohrium, Hassium, Meitnerium, Darmstadtium, Roentgenium, Copernicium, Nihonium, Flerovium, Moscovium, Livermorium, Tennessine and Oganesson are the elements in the same period.

Group: Actinides

Other elements in the same group:

Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium and Lawrencium are the elements in the same group.

Other elements in the same orbital:

Actinium, Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium and Lawrencium are the elements in the same orbital.

Allotropes: none

Key isotopes: ²⁴⁹Cf, ²⁵²Cf

Melting point: 900°C, 1652°F, 1173 K 

Boiling point: Unknown 

Element category:  actinide

Density (g cm⁻³): 15.1

CAS number: 7440-71-3

Color: silvery

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