Fermium is a highly unstable transuranic element with little known chemical properties. It was discovered in 1952 by Ghiorso and named after physicist Enrico Fermi. Its extreme rarity makes it difficult to study, and it poses a potential health risk to those who handle it.
Fermium is a metallic chemical element classified in the actinide series in the periodic table of elements. It is also what is known as a transuranic element, meaning that it has a higher atomic number than uranium. Transuranium elements share a number of interesting traits, but their most distinctive trait is probably their extreme instability. These elements are highly reactive and have very short half-lives, and as a result are rarely, if ever, found in nature. This makes them very difficult to study, as they are hard to obtain and when available, they are typically only in very small quantities.
The chemical properties of this element are not really known, although it is assumed that it shares traits with other actinides. Scientists have managed to artificially create only very small amounts of Fermium, so while the element’s existence has been proven, little more is known about it. It is definitely highly radioactive and 10 isotopes of Fermium have been identified by bombarding plutonium with neutrons. On the periodic table of elements, you can find Fermium under the atomic number 100; the element symbol is Fm.
This element was first identified in 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and a team of physicists who were studying the residue left over from atomic bomb explosions in the South Pacific. These test blasts have revealed much about the nature of such devices, along with their byproducts. The discovery of Fermium was in fact kept secret until 1955, due to the Cold War; government officials feared the Soviets could use the element as a potential weapon.
Ghiorso and his team had the honor of naming their discovery, by convention, and chose to name it after Enrico Fermi, an eminent Italian physicist who died in 1954. Fermi did a lot of work on the reactions that were used to synthesize fermem into laboratory, making this denomination particularly apt. The element was also briefly referred to as centurium, in reference to its atomic number, but this name was later dropped.
Like other radioactive elements, there is a potential health risk from Fermium. However, because the item is so rare, this risk isn’t a concern for most people. The handful of people who work with elements like Fermium, along with their isotopes, have special training in handling the radioactive material to ensure their work is safe.
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