Have you ever heard of an element in the periodic table that has been named after one of the most prominent scientists the world has ever seen?Well, there is Einsteinium! An extremely radioactive metal of the actinide series, Einsteinium was discovered from the radioactive fallout resulting from hydrogen bomb testing in November 1952.As evident, Einsteinium is named after Albert Einstein. It is a synthetic element and is not found in nature. In December 1952, a group of scientists, led by Albert Ghiorso, discovered the isotope Einsteinium-253 from the debris of hydrogen bomb detonation in the south Pacific. The enormous explosion was more powerful and destructive than all the explosives of both of the World Wars combined. It instantly resulted in the release of a vast number of neutrons, which reacted with the bomb’s uranium atoms. Interestingly, some of the uranium atoms captured 15 neutrons each, and the resulting heavy uranium isotopes rapidly underwent beta decays. The outcome of these chain reactions was a new element that was named Einsteinium after Albert Einstein.Einsteinium has several isotopes, the most common one being einsteinium-253 with a half-life of about 20 days. Half-life is the time taken for an isotope’s radioactivity to fall to half its original value. However, producing Einsteinium is a challenging feat and requires a dedicated nuclear reactor. Although the pure element can be isolated from its compounds by using reducing agents, the low melting point and self-damaging radiations of the Einsteinium render the reaction inefficient. In nuclear reactors, Einsteinium is produced by bombarding heavy metals with neutrons. Currently, Einsteinium has no practical utility beyond fundamental scientific research. Furthermore, its radioactive nature and limited availability restrict the scope of the study.Read on to learn more about Einsteinium facts and their properties!Classification Of EinsteiniumEinsteinium is a synthetic element with the atomic number 99 and a relative atomic mass of 252 u. It is classified as an actinide element. Einsteinium (Es) is an f-block element in period seven of the periodic table. It is a member of the actinide group of elements, placed to the left of fermium (Fm), right of Californium (Cf), and just below the lanthanide Holmium (Ho).An Einsteinium atom has 99 protons and 99 electrons. And, the number of neutrons in the nucleus of the radioactive metal is 153 (number of protons subtracted from atomic mass).Einsteinium has 17 radioactive isotopes with atomic masses ranging from 241 to 256. However, it has no natural isotopes. It also has three recognized isomers. In chemistry, isotopes refer to the variations of a chemical element with the same number of electrons and protons, but a different number of neutrons.The most common isotope of Einsteinium is Einsteinium-253, a radioactive decay product of Californium-253 produced artificially in dedicated nuclear reactors.The most stable isotope of Einsteinium is Einsteinium-252, with a half-life of 472 days. It undergoes radioactive decay to form Californium-252 via electron capture or Berkelium-248 through alpha decay.Although Einsteinium-252 is a stable isotope, it is available in minute quantities. Other isotopes of the radioactive metal are artificially synthesized in laboratories by bombardment reactions between light ions and heavy actinide elements.The Einsteinium isotopes Einsteinium-253 and Einsteinium-254 have a decent half-life and are more readily available. They are, therefore, the preferred choice for various studies and experiments.The Discovery Of EinsteiniumEinsteinium isn’t a naturally occurring metal. Scientists discovered the metal Einsteinium while studying the radioactive fallout from the first hydrogen bomb detonation, code-named Ivy Mike.On November 1, 1952, the USA detonated the world’s first hydrogen bomb, ‘Sausage’, in the south Pacific. While the explosion destroyed the Pacific island of Elugelab, the nuclear debris it left behind led to two significant discoveries in the form of Einsteinium and fermium. A 60 mi (96 km) wide cloud packed with radioactive debris spread from the explosion site. Following the explosion, the U.S. government sent fighter jets to sample the radioactive debris. Special filter papers affixed to the jets’ wing tanks sampled the radioactive fallout. Albert Ghiorso, along with his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, was entrusted with the detailed analysis of the samples.The Einsteinium isotope was identified by scientists from three labs: the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois, The University of California Laboratory in Berkeley, California, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.As a new element at the time, it was named after Albert Einstein. Thus, Einsteinium-253 was the first isotope of einsteinium to be discovered. It has a half-life of 20.47 days. The results of the discovery were not disclosed until 1955 due to the Cold War. Therefore, further research on einsteinium was highly confidential.Einsteinium is the seventh transuranic element of the radioactive actinide series in the modern periodic table. Its isotope, Einsteinium-253, was synthesized by combining uranium-238 with 15 neutrons which subsequently went through seven beta decays.In 1961, a weighable quantity (about 0.01 micrograms) of Einsteinium-253 was synthesized. It makes Einsteinium the highest atomic number element to have been observed in macroscopic amounts in its pure form. It was bombarded with neutrons to further produce the element Mendelevium with atomic number 101.Einsteinium is currently produced in nuclear reactors through a chain of reactions that bombard plutonium with neutrons. The resulting isotopes then go through beta decays. Einsteinium synthesis is an extremely slow process, it took nine years since its discovery to produce a quantity significant enough to be visible to the unaided eye. The pure metal was isolated much later in the ’70s.The Physical Properties Of EinsteiniumEinsteinium has physical and chemical properties that set it apart from other elements in the periodic table. Einsteinium is a silvery soft solid at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP). It is paramagnetic in nature and highly reactive.The melting point of Einsteinium: 1,580°F (860°C)The estimated boiling point of Einsteinium: 1,824.8°F (996°C)The density of Einsteinium (near room temperature): 551.8 lb/cu ft (8.84 g/cu cm)It is not known whether Einsteinium has any odor.Since it is a soft metal, it can be said that the Einsteinium is malleable and ductile, that is, it can be smoothened into sheets and drawn into wires, respectively. Other physical properties of Einsteinium are unknown.Einsteinium is the first divalent metal in the actinide series and its +2 oxidation state has been established in the solid phase.The +3 oxidation state of Einsteinium is most stable in the solid-state and in an aqueous solution where it gives a pale pink color.Vapor studies suggest the existence of a +4 oxidation state, but the finding is yet to be confirmed. Einsteinium has a face-centered cubic crystal lattice structure.The Uses Of EinsteiniumBeing one of the most highly radioactive elements, Einsteinium has limited use beyond research and scientific studies. Einsteinium is extremely radioactive and only minute quantities of the metal have been produced so far. Therefore, it is primarily used in scientific studies and for the study and discovery of radioactive decay.Einsteinium has a few applications in the field of medicine, albeit not on a commercial scale. Einsteinium finds use in studying radiation damage, accelerated aging, and has potential applications in targeted radiation treatments.Einsteinium is also used to produce heavier elements, one example being Mendelevium.Apart from scarce availability, Einsteinium is difficult to study because the element and all its isotopes are self-destructive. In other words, the radioactive nature and short half-lives of the isotopes do not leave much scope for detailed studies.Even though Einsteinium-252 has a half-life of around 472 days, it is available in scanty amounts, and synthesizing the isotope is also pretty challenging.The common isotope Einsteinium-253 has a reasonable half-life of 20 days. However, radioactive decay of the Einsteinium-253 isotope releases X-rays and gamma rays, which damages the crystal lattice and interferes with X-ray crystallographic studies.The high radioactivity of Einsteinium results in a glow along with the release of heat, which destroys the crystal lattice.Since Einsteinium decays into Californium and Berkelium, Einsteinium samples are almost always contaminated.Being radioactive, Einsteinium and its isotopes pose health risks and require stringent safety measures while handling.Einsteinium is not commercially available and it is reported that about 0.03 oz (1 g) of the element can cost over 27 million USD. So, it is not entirely wrong to say that coming across Einsteinium is next to impossible!
Have you ever heard of an element in the periodic table that has been named after one of the most prominent scientists the world has ever seen?
