The 99th element of Periodic Table is known as ‘Einsteinium’. It is the seventh synthetic Transuranium element of the Actinide series. It has only 20.47 days of half life which makes it very unstable in nature.

An international team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory discovered this element in 1952.Albert Ghiorso was the lead scientist of this research and it was found during the examination of debris from the first hydrogen bomb test at the beginning of the cold war.

According to Chemicool, These findings were not published until 1955 because during this time the Cold War were running high and many new discoveries were kept secret.Einsteinium is named after the honor of great scientist and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. For this reason, the name sounds familiar but, there are many facts that are still unknown. Here is a list of 20 interesting facts about Einsteinium:

1. Einsteinium has 99 protons in Nucleus, so it’s atomic number is 99.

2. ‘Es’ is the atomic symbol of Einsteinium in Periodic table.

3. It is solid at room temperature and it’s melting point is 860° C. However, its exact boiling point is still unknown.

4. It has no natural Isotopes.

5. Einsteinium has 153 Neutrons in It’s Nucleus.

6. Total atomic weight of an Einsteinium atom is (99+153) = 252.

7. Atomic density of Einsteinium is 8.84 gm/cm^3.

8. Einsteinium was created by the bombardment of Neutrons with the Plutonium atoms in a Nuclear reactor.

9. According to LiveScience, Einsteinium has 19 artificial isotopes and all of them are unstable.

10. Most stable Isotope of Einsteinium has 471.7 days of half life.

11. Einsteinium-253 Isotope was produced by the combination of 15 neutrons with Uranium-238.

12. Einsteinium-253 has 20.47 days of half life.

13. Einsteinium is the seventh transuranic element in the Periodic table. All transuranic elements are radioactive and were artificially made in the lab.

14. Einsteinium is soft and silvery in color.

15. As it is radioactive, it glows blue in dark due to energy emission & radioactive decay.

16. Einsteinium has no daily life application except scientific research.

17. First measurable Einsteinium was produced in 1961 by the researchers in Berkley. it was only 10 micrograms.

18. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, Einsteinium could be attacked by Oxygen, steam, and acids because it is an Actinide Element in Periodic Table. But, it could not be attacked by Alkali metals like Lithium(Li), Sodium(Na), Potassium(k), Rubidium(Rb), Caesium(Cs), and Francium(Fr).

19. It is radioactive but, no health risks were recorded till date. However, safety precautions are mandatory while with such radioactive elements.

20. Before this Official name, ‘Einsteinium’ was unOfficially named as ‘Athenium’. It was named after the capital of Greece, ‘Athens’.

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