Nobelium

Nobelium is a synthetic element with the symbol **No** and atomic number 102. It was first correctly identified in 1966 by scientists at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions in Dubna, Soviet Union. Little is known about the element but limited chemical experiments have shown that it forms a stable divalent ion in solution as well as the predicted trivalent ion that is associated with its presence as one of the actinoids.

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 curium-244 with ions of carbon-13 with a device called a cyclotron. The isotope they created had a half-life 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 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research 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 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Nobelium's most stable isotope, nobelium-259, has a half-life of about 58 minutes. It decays into fermium-255 through alpha decay or into mendelevium-259 through electron capture. Since only tiny amounts of nobelium have ever been produced, there are currently no uses for it outside of basic scientific research.
 * Name:** Nobelium
 * Symbol:** No
 * Atomic Number:** 102
 * Atomic Mass:** (259.0) amu
 * Melting Point:** Unknown
 * Boiling Point:** Unknown
 * Number of Protons/Electrons:** 102
 * Number of Neutrons:** 157
 * Classification:** Rare Earth
 * Crystal Structure:** Unknown
 * Density @ 293 K:** Unknown
 * Color:** Unknown
 * What's in a name?** Named after the scientist Alfred Nobel.
 * Say what?** Nobelium is pronounced as **no-BELL-ee-em**.
 * History and Uses:**
 * Estimated Crustal Abundance:** Not Applicable
 * Estimated Oceanic Abundance:** Not Applicable
 * Number of Stable Isotopes:** 0
 * Ionization Energy:** 6.65 eV
 * Oxidation States:** +3, +2


 * Date of Discovery:** 1957
 * Discoverer:** Nobel Institute for Physics


 * Name Origin:** After Alfred Nobel
 * Uses:** No uses known
 * Obtained From:** Man-made

__Isotopes__

 * ** Isotope ** || ** Half Life ** ||
 * No-253 || 1.7 minutes ||




 * Number of Energy Levels:** 7
 * First Energy Level:** 2
 * Second Energy Level:**8
 * Third Energy Level:** 18
 * Fourth Energy Level :** 32
 * Fifth Energy Level:** 32
 * Sixth Energy Level:** 8
 * Seventh Energy Level:** 2