Berkelium (Bk)
"The Stepping Stone, a hero whose sole purpose is to be a target for creating even heavier, more exotic heroes."
A memorable persona to anchor Bk in your mind.
14.78
Grams per cm³
986
Celsius (°C)
244
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Berkelium has no everyday connection, used only for creating heavier elements.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1949
Discovered By
Stanley Thompson, Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn Seaborg
Origin of Name
"Berkelium was named after the town Berkeley, California, where it was first made."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
[247] u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
N/A
Electron Configuration
[Rn] 5f97s2
1st Ionization Energy
6.23 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Berkelium is a silvery, radioactive, synthetic metal."
Did You Know?
It was named after the city of Berkeley, California, where it was first synthesized at the University of California, Berkeley.
It is so rare and difficult to produce that only just over one gram of berkelium has ever been created in total since its discovery in 1949.
Because it is produced in such tiny amounts, it currently has no practical uses outside of basic scientific research and for creating even heavier elements.
It is a soft, silvery-white radioactive metal.