Californium (Cf)
"The Neutron Star, a hero who emits a torrent of neutrons, starting nuclear reactors and fighting cancer."
A memorable persona to anchor Cf in your mind.
15.1
Grams per cm³
900
Celsius (°C)
245
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Californium is found as a neutron source used to start up nuclear reactors.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1950
Discovered By
Stanley Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn Seaborg
Origin of Name
"Californium is named for the university and state of California, where the element was first made."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
[251] u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
N/A
Electron Configuration
[Rn] 5f107s2
1st Ionization Energy
6.3 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Californium is a silvery-white, radioactive, synthetic metal."
Did You Know?
It was named after the state of California and the University of California, Berkeley, where it was discovered.
Californium-252 is an extremely powerful neutron emitter. One microgram can produce 170 million neutrons per minute.
This neutron-emitting property makes it useful for starting up nuclear reactors and as a portable neutron source for detecting gold and silver in ores.
It is also used in a type of radiation therapy for cancer called neutron brachytherapy.