Wikijunior:The Elements/Einsteinium

Shows the position of Einsteinium on the periodic chart.

Einsteinium's symbol on the Periodic Table

What does it look, feel, taste, or smell like?

Einsteinium is a metal that can glow in the dark due to its radiation. The people who had seen it said that it is soft and silvery with no smell. Its symbol is Es.

How was it discovered?

Einsteinium was discovered by Albert Ghiorso and his team at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (USA) in 1952 while studying the leftovers of the first hydrogen bomb. It was discovered along with fermium (Fm).

Where did its name come from?

Einsteinium is named after the physicist Albert Einstein. This is why its symbol is Es.

Did You Know?

• Einsteinium the first element with two bonding electrons in the actinide series.
• Einsteinium has no natural isotopes.
• Before the name “Einsteinium”, it was named as “Athenium” after Athens, the capital of Greece.

Where is it found?

Einsteinium is very hard to find and produce. We can find einsteinium in the remains of nuclear bombs. Einsteinium is formed when some uranium atoms capture some neutrons and go through decay steps. Since einsteinium does not occur naturally, we can only find a small amount of it.

What are its uses?

Einsteinium has no particular uses due to the small amount of production. It’s only used for basic research by the scientists and for creating other metals.

Is it dangerous?

Einsteinium is radioactive and is considered highly dangerous. Einsteinium is also very reactive with halogens and chalcogens. Einsteinium has not been found in the earth's crust, so there's no need to consider its environmental hazards, but it could cause harm due to its radiation.