The Element Actinium


The specialty about actinium is that it glows in the dark with a pale blue light due to its intense radioactivity. In its physical form it is a silvery, metallic element which is found only as traces in uranium ore in nature. Actinium is known to portray similar chemical behavior to that of the rare earth element, lanthanum.

In industrial application, actinium is used as a valuable neutron source because it is about 150 times as radioactive as radium. It is also used as a source of thermoelectric power in different applications while actinium-225 isotope is known to be useful in producing BI-213 as an agent for radio-immunotherapy for Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT).

Atomic Number & Chemical Properties


Element Basics:

Chemical Symbol: Ac
Atomic Number: 89
Atomic Weight: 227.0278
Element Classification: Radioactive Rare Earth Element (Actinide Series)
Discovered By: Andre-Louis Debierne
Date of Discovery: 1899 (France)
Origin of Name: Greek: akis, aktinos (ray).

How to Recognize it at a Party:

Heavy, Silvery-white metal that is very radioactive

Seriously Atomic Information:

Density (g/cc): n/a
Melting Point (°K): 1320
Boiling Point (°K): 3470
Atomic Radius (pm): 188
Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 22.54
Covalent Radius (pm): n/a
Ionic Radius: 118 (+3e)
Pauling Negativity Number: 1.1
First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 665.5
Oxidation States: 3
Electronic Configuration: [Rn] 6d1 7s2

Getting Intimate with Actinium:

Lattice Structure: Face-Centered Cubic (FCC)
Lattice Constant (Å): 5.310
Lattice C/A Ratio: n/a
Specific Heat (@20°C J/g mol): n/a
Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): (10.5)
Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): (292.9)
Thermal Conductivity (@25°C W/m K):
Debye Temperature (°K): n/a


Society's Questions About Actinium:

Have you ever wondered what everyone else in the world thinks about Actinium? Is anyone else looking for it too? If so, why? What do they want?

The following list shows the most common online questions about the element Actinium. Are your questions the same or different from everyone else's?

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