It's Elemental - The Element Nobelium

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta name="keywords" content="Nobelium,elements,the element Nobelium,element Nobelium,elemental Nobelium,uses of Nobelium,history of Nobelium,information about Nobelium,table of elements,periodic table of elements,periodical table of elements"> <meta name="description" content="The Element Nobelium - Basic Physical and Historical Information"> <meta name="robots" content="index,all"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/main_2020.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/font-awesome.min.css">  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/itselemental_2020.css"> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-3SJLGKR77H"></script><script>window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-3SJLGKR77H');</script>    <title>It's Elemental - The Element Nobelium</title> </head> <body>  <div class="topnav" id="myTopnav"> <a href="/index.html" title="JLab Science Education Home"><img src="/g/scied_logo_sm.png" width="149" height="80" alt="Science Education Home"></a> <a href="/index.html" title="JLab Science Education Home">Home</a> <a href="/indexpages/teachers.html" title="Teacher Tools">Teachers</a> <a href="/indexpages/" title="Student Zone">Students</a> <a href="/indexpages/elementgames.html" title="Games and Puzzles">Games</a> <a href="/indexpages/science_videos.html" title="Science Videos">Videos</a> <a href="/solquiz/" title="Virginia Standards of Learning Practice Tests">VA SOL</a> <a href="/indexpages/program.html" title="Programs and Events">Programs</a> <div class="search-container"> <form action="/search/"> <input type="text" placeholder="Search..." name="q"> <button type="submit"><i class="fa fa-search"></i></button> </form> </div> <a href="javascript:void(0);" class="icon" title="Menu" onclick="navToggle();"> <i class="fa fa-bars"></i> </a> </div>   <main> <div class="content"> <h1 class="page-header">It's Elemental</h1>   <div class="row element-nav regular"> <p class="left"> <a href="ele101.html"><img src="larr.gif" alt="Mendelevium"></a> </p> <p class="left"> <a href="ele101.html">Previous Element<br><span class="nav-name">(Mendelevium)</span></a> </p> <p> <a href="/itselemental/">The Periodic Table of Elements</a> </p> <p class="right"> <a href="ele103.html"><img src="rarr.gif" alt="Lawrencium"></a> </p> <p class="right"> <a href="ele103.html">Next Element<br><span class="nav-name">(Lawrencium)</span></a> </p> </div>  <div class="element-nav smallest"> <a href="index.html">The Table of Elements</a> </div>    <div class="regular"> <h2 class="subtitle">The Element Nobelium</h2> <p class="other-data">[<a href="iso102.html">Click for Isotope Data</a>]</p> </div>  <div class="smallest"> <h2 class="subtitle">Nobelium</h2> <div class="extra-navigation">| <a href="ele101.html">Previous</a> | <a href="iso102.html">Isotopes</a> | <a href="ele103.html">Next</a> |</div> </div>   <div class="element-data"> <svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" viewBox="0 0 52 62" class="specific-element"> <rect x="1" y="1" width="50" height="60" class="element-specific-box solid" /> <text x="3.5" y="11" class="atomic-number-specific">102</text> <text x="26" y="36" class="chemical-symbol-specific">No</text> <text x="26" y="50" class="chemical-name-specific">Nobelium</text> <text x="26" y="58.5" class="atomic-weight-specific">259</text> </svg> <p><span class="section-title">Atomic Number</span>: 102</p> <p><span class="section-title">Atomic Weight</span>: 259</p> <p><span class="section-title">Melting Point</span>: 1100 K (827°C or 1520°F)</p> <p><span class="section-title">Boiling Point</span>: Unknown</p> <p><span class="section-title">Density</span>: Unknown</p> <p><span class="section-title">Phase at Room Temperature</span>: Solid</p> <p><span class="section-title">Element Classification</span>: Metal</p> <p><span class="section-title">Period Number</span>: 7</p> <p><span class="section-title">Group Number</span>: none</p> <p><span class="section-title">Group Name</span>: Actinide</p> <p><span class="section-title">Special Notes</span>: Radioactive and Artificially Produced</p> <p><span class="section-title">What's in a name?</span> Named after the scientist Alfred Nobel.</p> <p><span class="section-title">Say what?</span> Nobelium is pronounced as <strong>no-BELL-ee-em</strong>.</p> <p><span class="section-title">History and Uses</span>:</p> <div class="element-history"> <p>In 1957, a group of scientists working at the Nobel Institute of Physics in Stockhlom, Sweden, announced the discovery of a new element. They produced this new element, which they named nobelium, by bombarding a target of <a href="ele096.html">curium</a>-244 with ions of <a href="ele006.html">carbon</a>-13 with a device called a <a href="/glossary/cyclotron.html">cyclotron</a>. The <a href="/glossary/isotope.html">isotope</a> they created had a <a href="/glossary/halflife.html">half-life</a> of 10 minutes. In 1958, another group of scientists, Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Torbørn Sikkeland and John R. Walton, working at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California, attempted to confirm the Nobel Institute's discovery. They were unable to produce any isotope of nobelium with a half-life of 10 minutes, but were able to produce nobelium-254, with a half-life of three seconds, by bombarding curium-246 with carbon-12. A third group, working at the <a href="http://www.jinr.ru/" class="external">Joint Institute for Nuclear Research</a> in Dubna, Russia, also could not duplicate the Nobel Institute's work but were able to confirm the Berkeley group's work. Credit for discovering nobelium was eventually given to the scientists working at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, who decided to keep the name nobelium. Today, the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory is known as the <a href="http://www.lbl.gov/" class="external">Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory</a>.</p><p>Nobelium's most stable <a href="/glossary/isotope.html">isotope</a>, nobelium-259, has a <a href="/glossary/halflife.html">half-life</a> of about 58 minutes. It decays into <a href="ele100.html">fermium</a>-255 through <a href="/glossary/alphadecay.html">alpha decay</a>, into <a href="ele101.html">mendelevium</a>-259 through <a href="/glossary/electroncapture.html">electron capture</a> or through spontaneous fission.</p><p>Since only tiny amounts of nobelium have ever been produced, there are currently no uses for it outside of basic scientific research.</p> </div> <p><span class="section-title">Estimated Crustal Abundance</span>: Not Applicable</p> <p><span class="section-title">Estimated Oceanic Abundance</span>: Not Applicable</p> <p><span class="section-title">Number of Stable Isotopes</span>: 0 <span class="other-data">(<a href="iso102.html">View all isotope data</a>)</span></p> <p><span class="section-title">Ionization Energy</span>: 6.65 eV</p> <p><span class="section-title">Oxidation States</span>: +3, +2</p> <table class="electron-config"> <tr><td><p><span class="section-title"><a href="/qa/electron_config.html">Electron Shell Configuration</a></span>:</p></td><td><p>1s<sup>2</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td class="unconfirmed"></td><td><p>2s<sup>2</sup>   2p<sup>6</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>3s<sup>2</sup>   3p<sup>6</sup>   3d<sup>10</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>4s<sup>2</sup>   4p<sup>6</sup>   4d<sup>10</sup>   4f<sup>14</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>5s<sup>2</sup>   5p<sup>6</sup>   5d<sup>10</sup>   5f<sup>14</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>6s<sup>2</sup>   6p<sup>6</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><p>7s<sup>2</sup></p></td></tr> </table> </div>  <div class="row page-contact"> <div class="col-12"> <p><a href="/faq/index.html">Citation and linking information</a></p> <p>For questions about this page, please contact <a href="mailto:carolm@jlab.org">Carol McKisson</a>.</p> </div> </div>  </div>  </main>   <footer> <div class="jlab-footer-background"> <div class="jlab-footer-content clearfix">  <div class="jlab-footer-right-container"> <p class="address">Thomas 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It's Elemental - The Element Nobelium