Curium
Curium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with symbol Cm and atomic number 96. This element of the actinide series was named after Marie and Pierre Curie – both were known for their research on radioactivity. Curium was first intentionally produced and identified in July 1944 by the group of Glenn T. Seaborg at the University of California, Berkeley.
A stylized shell model. Electrons are quantum objects, not particles following these literal paths. Sizes and motion are illustrative.
86 is the [Rn] core total across six shells.
At a glance
- Atomic number
- 96
- Atomic mass
- 247 u
- Phase
- Solid
- Density
- 13.51 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1,613 K
- Boiling point
- 3,383 K
- First ionization energy
- 581 kJ/mol
- Electronegativity
- 1.28
- Electron affinity
- 27.17 kJ/mol
- Molar heat capacity
- Unavailable
- Period
- 7
- Appearance
- silvery metallic, glows purple in the dark
Conditions and isotopes affect measured properties. Some properties of short-lived elements are predicted. Electronegativity uses the Pauling scale.
Keep exploring
Explore the stories, imagery, and reference data in more depth. Properties with no value in the reference are marked unavailable.