The Element Californium

What is Californium? Origin / Meaning of the name Californium
Named in honour of the U.S. state of California and for the University of California, Berkeley.

What is Californium? Periodic Table Group and Classification of the Californium Element
Elements can be classified based on their physical states (States of Matter) e.g. gas, solid or liquid. This element is a solid. Californium classified as an element in the Actinide series as one of the "Rare Earth Elements" which can located in Group 3 elements of the Periodic Table and in the 6th and 7th periods. The Rare Earth Elements are of the Lanthanide and Actinide series. Most of the elements in the Actinide series are synthetic or man-made. Nearly 75% of all the elements in the Periodic Table are classified as metals which are detailed in the List of Metals.

Facts about the Discovery and History of the Californium Element
In 1950 Stanley Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso and Glenn T. Seaborg discovered Californium by bombarding curium-242 with alpha particles, resulting in californium-245 (half-life 45 min). The discovery is credited to the leader of the group, Glenn T. Seaborg.

Glenn T. Seaborg
The American scientist Glenn T. Seaborg (1912 - 1999) won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements". Glenn Seaborg contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements: plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium and element 106, which was named seaborgium in his honor whilst he was still living. Glenn Seaborg also developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the actinoid series in the periodic table of the elements.

What is Californium? Occurrence of the Californium Element
Man-made

Abundances of the element in different environments
% in Universe N/A
% in Sun None
% in Meteorites None
% in Earth's Crust None
% in Oceans None
% in Humans None