🔹 Basic Information

• Element Name: Berkelium
• Discovered By: Glenn T. Seaborg, Albert Ghiorso, and Stanley G. Thompson
• Year of Discovery: 1949
• Category: Actinide Series / Radioactive Metal
• Group: Actinides (no formal group number)
• State at Room Temperature: Solid 🧊

Berkelium is a man-made radioactive metal. It was discovered by scientists working at the University of California, Berkeley — which is where the element gets its name! 🏫

🔸 Chemical Properties

• Chemical Symbol: Bk
• Atomic Number: 97
• Atomic Mass: ~247 u
• Valency: Typically +3
• Electronic Configuration: [Rn] 5f⁹ 7s²

Berkelium is chemically similar to terbium and other actinides. It usually forms Bk³⁺ ions and combines with halogens and oxygen.

📘 Basic Things to Know

Berkelium was the fifth transuranic element discovered. It’s produced by bombarding americium with alpha particles in a particle accelerator.

🤔 Interesting Facts

• Named after Berkeley, California, a hub for scientific research 🇺🇸
• Very radioactive and glows in the dark due to radiation ✨
• One of the few elements that helped synthesize heavier elements like Tennessine
• Exists only in small amounts and is extremely hard to isolate
• Berkelium-249 is the most commonly studied isotope and is used in superheavy element research

🔧 Common Uses

⚠️ Berkelium has no commercial uses due to its radioactivity and limited availability.

✔️ Scientific Research:
Used in the synthesis of superheavy elements, like element 117 (Tennessine)

✔️ Nuclear Studies:
Studied in actinide chemistry and helps understand radioactive decay

✔️ Materials Testing:
Used in radiation shielding and detector calibration

📚 Conclusion

Berkelium is a rare, synthetic radioactive element that expands our knowledge of the actinide series and helps scientists push the boundaries of the periodic table. Named after a city known for science, it’s a reminder that new discoveries often start in a lab but reach far into the future! 🧪🔬