Polonium (Po)
"The Radioactive Assassin, an intensely radioactive and toxic villain, used in a real-life assassination."
A memorable persona to anchor Po in your mind.
9.2
Grams per cm³
254
Celsius (°C)
197
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Polonium is found in an anti-static brush for cleaning camera lenses or records.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1898
Discovered By
Marie & Pierre Curie
Origin of Name
"Polonium is named after Poland, the native country of Marie Curie, who first isolated the element."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
[209] u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
962°C
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f145d106s26p4
1st Ionization Energy
8.417 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Polonium is a rare, highly radioactive, silvery-gray metalloid."
Did You Know?
It was discovered by Marie Curie and was named after her native country, Poland, which at the time was not an independent nation.
Polonium is an extremely rare and intensely radioactive element. On a weight-for-weight basis, polonium-210 is about 250 billion times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide.
It was used as the trigger in early atomic bombs.
Tiny amounts of polonium were used in anti-static brushes to eliminate static cling on photographic film and records by ionizing the air.