Californium


 * Say what?!** Californium is pronounced as: **kal-eh-FOR-nee-em**.

Californium has the second highest mass of all elements produced that can be seen by the naked eye. It is the heaviest element to occur naturally on earth.It is a silvery white actinide metal. In its pure form it is malleable and easily cut with a knife. Because of it is a strong neutron emitter it has a few very specialized uses, it is used at the start up of nuclear reactors. Californium is radioactive and only available in very small amounts so its uses are somewhat specialized.
 * = Symbol ||= CF ||
 * = Atomic Number ||= 98 ||
 * = Atomic Mass ||= 251 ||
 * = Color ||= Silvery-white ||
 * = Melting Point ||= 900°C ||
 * = Classification ||= Metal ||

A few compounds of californium have been produced and studied. They include: californium oxide (CfO3 ), californium trichloride (CfCl3 ) and californium oxychloride (CfOCl) =__**History**__= Californium was first produced by Stanley G. Thompson, Glenn T. Seaborg, Kenneth Street, Jr. and Albert Ghiorso working at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950. They bombarded atoms of curium-242 with helium ions using a device known as a cyclotron. This produced atoms of californium-245, an isotope with a half-life of about 45 minutes, and a free neutron.

__Californium-252__
Californium-252, is an isotope with a half-life of about 2.6 years, and it is a very strong neutron source. One micro-gram (0.000001 grams) of californium-252 produces 170,000,000 neutrons per minute

__Californium-251__
Californium-251, has a half-life of about 898 years. It decays into curium-247 through alpha decay or decays through spontaneous fission.

=__Uses__= Californium is being used as a neutron source to identify gold and silver ores through a technique known as neutron activation in detection devices such as fuel rod scanners, and portable metal detectors. Californium is also being used in neutron radiography, which detects corrosion, bad welds, cracks and trapped moisture in aircraft and weaponry. The foils made from Californium-251 are used as a source of fission fragments for research purposes.


 * Estimated Crustal Abundance:** Not Applicable
 * Estimated Oceanic Abundance:** Not Applicable
 * Number of Stable Isotopes:** 0
 * Ionization Energy:** 6.30 eV
 * Oxidation State:** +3

Californium that [|bioaccumulates] in skeletal tissue releases radiation that disrupts the body's ability to form [|red blood cells].[|[][|66][|]] The element plays no natural biological role in any organism due to its intense radioactivity and low concentration in the environment. Californium can enter the body from ingesting contaminated food or drinks or by breathing air with suspended particles of the element. Once in the body, only 0.05% of the californium will reach the bloodstream. About 65% of that californium will be deposited in the skeleton, 25% in the liver, and the rest in other organs, or excreted, mainly in urine. Half of the californium deposited in the skeleton and liver are gone in 50 and 20 years, respectively. Californium in the skeleton adheres to bone surfaces before slowly migrating throughout the bone. The element is most dangerous if taken into the body. In addition, californium-249 and californium-251 can cause tissue damage externally, through [|gamma ray] emission. [|Ionizing radiation] emitted by californium on bone and in the liver can cause cancer.