Curium is a metallic chemical element that belongs to the actinides group of the periodic table. It’s also classified as a transuranic element, meaning it has a higher atomic number than uranium. Transuranic elements have a number of characteristics in common, the most notable of which is their radioactivity and extreme instability, making them difficult to identify and study. Curium, like other transuranic elements, must be synthesized because it does not exist in nature, and because the process is time-consuming and expensive, only small amounts are typically produced at a time.
Curium shares a number of chemical characteristics with the rare earth elements. It has a silvery color and is extremely reactive. It’s also extremely radioactive, with a proclivity for bioaccumulating in bone tissue and interfering with red blood cell production. Curium is designated by the symbol Cm and the atomic number 96 on the periodic table of elements.
A team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, is credited with discovering this element. Glenn Seaborg, a nuclear chemist who contributed significantly to the understanding of transuranic elements by identifying and isolating many of them, led the group. When they bombarded plutonium with alpha particles to synthesize curium in 1944, they discovered it.
This element was named after Pierre and Marie Curie, two well-known scientists who pioneered the use of radioactive materials in the early twentieth century. Due to its scarcity, curium is only used in research and has no practical commercial applications. Scientists believe that the element may one day be used as a source of fuel, and that its isotopes may have some potential applications, but these applications have yet to be discovered. Chemists can learn more about curium and its potential applications by researching it.
Because this element is radioactive, it poses a health risk to humans. Fortunately, because curium is so rare, most people will never be exposed to enough of it to pose a health risk. Curium impurities in nuclear fuel, on the other hand, can lead to increased radiation exposure at nuclear power plants, which is why such fuel must be closely monitored. People usually work with such small amounts of this element in the laboratory that it does not pose a significant health risk, especially when handled properly.