Bk

Berkelium · element 97

Actinide · Solid at room temperature

Berkelium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with symbol Bk and atomic number 97. It is a member of the actinide and transuranium element series. It is named after the city of Berkeley, California, the location of the University of California Radiation Laboratory where it was discovered in December 1949.

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It took 250 days to make enough berkelium, shown here (in dissolved state), to synthesize element 117
It took 250 days to make enough berkelium, shown here (in dissolved state), to synthesize element 117 - ORNL, Department of Energy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Key facts

Atomic mass
247 u
how heavy one atom is
Phase (room temp.)
Solid
Density
14.78 g/cm³
how tightly packed it is
Melting point
1259 K (986 °C)
when solid turns to liquid
Boiling point
2900 K (2627 °C)
when liquid turns to gas
Period
7
its row in the periodic table
Group
3
its column in the periodic table
Block
F-block
the neighbourhood it lives in
Electronegativity
1.3
how strongly it pulls electrons
Electron configuration
[Rn] 5f9 7s2
where its electrons live
Shells
2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 27 · 8 · 2
electrons in each layer, inside to out
Discovered by
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
who found it
Appearance
silvery
what it looks like

Source: Wikipedia

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