« back

98 - Californium actinide

Discovered by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1950

Californium

Californium is a radioactive metallic chemical element with symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first made in 1950 at the University of California Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, by bombarding curium with alpha particles (helium-4 ions). It is an actinide element, the sixth transuranium element to be synthesized, and has the second-highest atomic mass of all the elements that have been produced in amounts large enough to see with the unaided eye (after einsteinium).

Shell Electrons Orbitals
1 2 2 in 1s
2 8 2 in 2s + 6 in 2p
3 18 2 in 3s + 6 in 3p + 10 in 3d
4 32 2 in 4s + 6 in 4p + 10 in 4d + 14 in 4f
5 28 2 in 5s + 6 in 5p + 10 in 5d + 10 in 5f
6 8 2 in 6s + 6 in 6p
7 2 2 in 7s
CaliforniumCf Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 3 Electron 4 Electron 5 Electron 6 Electron 7 Electron 8 Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 3 Electron 4 Electron 5 Electron 6 Electron 7 Electron 8 Electron 9 Electron 10 Electron 11 Electron 12 Electron 13 Electron 14 Electron 15 Electron 16 Electron 17 Electron 18 Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 3 Electron 4 Electron 5 Electron 6 Electron 7 Electron 8 Electron 9 Electron 10 Electron 11 Electron 12 Electron 13 Electron 14 Electron 15 Electron 16 Electron 17 Electron 18 Electron 19 Electron 20 Electron 21 Electron 22 Electron 23 Electron 24 Electron 25 Electron 26 Electron 27 Electron 28 Electron 29 Electron 30 Electron 31 Electron 32 Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 3 Electron 4 Electron 5 Electron 6 Electron 7 Electron 8 Electron 9 Electron 10 Electron 11 Electron 12 Electron 13 Electron 14 Electron 15 Electron 16 Electron 17 Electron 18 Electron 19 Electron 20 Electron 21 Electron 22 Electron 23 Electron 24 Electron 25 Electron 26 Electron 27 Electron 28 Electron 1 Electron 2 Electron 3 Electron 4 Electron 5 Electron 6 Electron 7 Electron 8 Electron 1 Electron 2
251  u Atomic Mass
1173  K Boiling Point
15.1  g/cm³ Density
-9.73e+1 Electron Affinity
1.3 Electronegativity
6.28  eV First Ionization Energy
1925.15  K Melting Point
7 Number of Shells
98 Atomic Number
2, 8, 18, 32, 28, 8, 2 Electron Shell Occupations