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About Berkelium

Berkelium Bohr

Berkelium is a transuranic member of the actinide series, with a silvery-white appearance. It does not occur naturally, and therefore was synthesized rather than being discovered. This synthesis was first accomplished by the team of Seaborg, Ghiorso, and Thompson at the University of California, Berkeley. This same team had been the first to produce americium and curium in 1944, and produced both berkelium and californium in 1949 and 1950. Americium had been given its name as a nod to its lanthanide analog that sits directly above it on the periodic table, europium. Likewise, berkelium was named after the city of its discovery just as its lanthanide analog, terbium, had been given a name derived from the town of Ytterby, Sweden, where the rare earth minerals were first found.

Berkelium is produced by bombarding uranium or plutonium with neutrons in a nuclear reactor, and can be separated from other products of these reactions with relative ease, compared to some of the other transuranic elements. Berkelium is a poor candidate for use as nuclear fuel due to an extremely low fission cross section for thermal neutrons. It is primarily used in the production of other transuranic elements, and all of its other uses are in basic research contexts.

Berkelium is extremely dangerous, as it is both highly radioactive and prone to accumulating in skeletal tissue. It is only used for scientific research and to produce some of the heavier actinides.

Berkelium Properties

Berkelium Bohr ModelBerkelium is a Block F, Group 3, Period 7 element. The number of electrons in each of berkelium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 32, 27, 8, 2 and its electron configuration is [Rn] 5f9 7s2. The berkelium atom has a radius of 170.pm. In its elemental form, berkelium's CAS number is 7440-40-6. Berkelium is a radioactive element produced in nature by beta decay and neutron capture in highly concentrated uranium-bearing deposits. It is the rarest naturally occurring element. Berkelium was discovered by Stanley G. Thompson, Albert Ghiorso and Glenn T. Seaborg at the Lawrence Berkeley Natinal Laboratory in 1949. It was the fifth synthetic transuranium element of the actinide series to be discovered.

Berkelium information, including properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.

General Properties
Symbol: Bk
Atomic Number: 97
Atomic Weight: 247
Element Category: Actinide
Group, Period, Block: n/a, 7, f
Color: silvery-white/ unknown
Other Names: Berkelio, Berquélio
Physical Properties
Melting Point: 986 °C, 1806.8 °F, 1259.15 K
Boiling Point: N/A
Density: 14790 kg·m3
Liquid Density @ Melting Point: N/A
Density @ 20°C: 14.79 g/cm3
Density of Solid: 14780 kg·m3
Specific Heat: N/A
Superconductivity Temperature: N/A
Triple Point: N/A
Critical Point: N/A
Heat of Fusion (kJ·mol-1): N/A
Heat of Vaporization (kJ·mol-1): N/A
Heat of Atomization (kJ·mol-1): 291
Thermal Conductivity: 10 W·m-1·K-1
Thermal Expansion: N/A
Electrical Resistivity: N/A
Tensile Strength: N/A
Molar Heat Capacity: N/A
Young's Modulus: N/A
Shear Modulus: N/A
Bulk Modulus: N/A
Poisson Ratio: N/A
Mohs Hardness: N/A
Vickers Hardness: N/A
Brinell Hardness: N/A
Speed of Sound: N/A
Pauling Electronegativity: 1.3
Sanderson Electronegativity: N/A
Allred Rochow Electronegativity: 1.2
Mulliken-Jaffe Electronegativity: N/A
Allen Electronegativity: N/A
Pauling Electropositivity: 2.7
Reflectivity (%): N/A
Refractive Index: N/A
Chemical Properties
Electrons: 97
Protons: 97
Neutrons: 150
Electron Configuration: [Rn] 5f9 7s2
Atomic Radius: 170 pm
Atomic Radius,
non-bonded (Å):		 2.44
Covalent Radius: N/A
Covalent Radius (Å): 1.68
Van der Waals Radius: N/A
Oxidation States: 3, 4
Phase: Solid
Crystal Structure: hexagonal close-packed
Magnetic Ordering: paramagnetic
Electron Affinity (kJ·mol-1) Unknown
1st Ionization Energy: 601 kJ·mol-1 (estimated)
2nd Ionization Energy: N/A
3rd Ionization Energy: N/A
Identifiers
CAS Number: 7440-40-6
EC Number: N/A
MDL Number: N/A
Beilstein Number: N/A
SMILES Identifier: [Bk]
InChI Identifier: InChI=1S/Bk
InChI Key: PWVKJRSRVJTHTR-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem CID: 23971
ChemSpider ID: 22409
Abundance
Earth - Total: N/A
Mercury - Total: N/A
Venus - Total: N/A
Earth - Seawater (Oceans), ppb by weight: N/A
Earth - Seawater (Oceans), ppb by atoms: N/A
Earth -  Crust (Crustal Rocks), ppb by weight: N/A
Earth -  Crust (Crustal Rocks), ppb by atoms: N/A
Sun - Total, ppb by weight: N/A
Sun - Total, ppb by atoms: N/A
Stream, ppb by weight: N/A
Stream, ppb by atoms: N/A
Meterorite (Carbonaceous), ppb by weight: N/A
Meterorite (Carbonaceous), ppb by atoms: N/A
Typical Human Body, ppb by weight: N/A
Typical Human Body, ppb by atom: N/A
Universe, ppb by weight: N/A
Universe, ppb by atom: N/A
History
Discovered By: Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Laboratory
Discovery Date: 1949
First Isolation: N/A

Berkelium Isotopes

Berkelium is an artificial element. It has no stable isotopes.

Nuclide Isotopic Mass Half-Life Mode of Decay Nuclear Spin Magnetic Moment Binding Energy (MeV) Natural Abundance
(% by atom)
235Bk 235.05658(43)# 20# s a to 231Am; ß+ to 235Cm N/A N/A 1768.168945 -
236Bk 236.05733(43)# 1# min a to 232Am; ß+ to 236Cm N/A N/A 1775.541016 -
237Bk 237.05700(24)# 1# min a to 233Am; ß+ to 237Cm 7/2+# N/A 1783.802002 -
238Bk 238.05828(31)# 2.40(8) min a to 234Am; SF; ß+ to 238Cm N/A N/A 1790.812012 -
239Bk 239.05828(25)# 3# min a to 235Am; ß+ to 239Cm 7/2+# N/A 1798.793945 -
240Bk 240.05976(16)# 4.8(8) min ß+ to 240Cm; a to 246Am; SF N/A N/A 1805.573975 -
241Bk 241.06023(22)# 4.6(4) min a to 237Am; ß+ to 241Cm (7/2+) N/A 1813.203003 -
242Bk 242.06198(22)# 7.0(13) min ß+ to 242Cm; SF 2-# N/A 1819.572998 -
243Bk 243.063008(5) 4.5(2) h ß+ to 243Cm; a to 239Am (3/2-) N/A 1826.757568 -
244Bk 244.065181(16) 4.35(15) h ß+ to 244Cm; a to 240Am (4-)# N/A 1832.811035 -
245Bk 245.0663616(25) 4.94(3) d EC to 245Cm; a to 241Am 3/2- N/A 1839.776123 -
246Bk 246.06867(6) 1.80(2) d EC to 246Cm; a to 242Am 2(-) N/A 1845.694336 -
247Bk 247.070307(6) 1.38(25)×103y a to 243Am (3/2-) N/A 1852.24585 -
248Bk 248.07309(8)# 23.7 h EC to 248Cm; a to 244Am; ß- to 248Cf 6+# N/A 1857.725952 -
249Bk 249.0749867(28) 330(4) d a to 245Am; ß- to 249Cf; SF 7/2+ 2 1864.02771 -
250Bk 250.078317(4) 3.212(5) h ß- to 250Cf 2- N/A 1868.996704 -
251Bk 251.080760(12) 55.6(11) min ß- to 251Cf; a to 247Am (3/2-)# N/A 1874.792358 -
252Bk 252.08431(22)# 1.8(5) min ß- to 252Cf; a to 248Am N/A N/A 1879.557007 -
253Bk 253.08688(39)# 10# min ß- to 253Cf N/A N/A 1885.228027 -
254Bk 254.09060(32)# 1# min ß- to 254Cf N/A N/A 1889.833984 -