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Curium Research Paper

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aCurium

Atomic Symbol: Cm
Atomic Number: 96
Atomic Mass: 247

Word Origin
Curium is named after chemist and physicist Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, who lead the way in the study of radioactivity.1

Discovery
Curium was first produced by the team of Glenn Seaborg, Ralph James, and Albert Ghiorso in 1944 at the University of California, Berkeley. Using a device called a cyclotron, they bombarded atoms of an isotope of plutonium with alpha particles. The plutonium with alpha particles was then sent to a laboratory at the University of Chicago where a tiny sample of curium was separated and identified. However, news of the new element was not revealed until after the end of World War II and was officially announced in November, 1945.2 …show more content…

It is so radioactive that it glows in the dark. As a metal, it is lustrous and silvery. It is malleable and chemically reactive. The surface of curium rapidly oxidizes in air, gaining a thin film. In dilute solutions, it dissolves rapidly to form solutions. Curium is extremely toxic.1 If absorbed into the body, curium accumulates in the bones. Its radiation destroys red blood cell

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