Atomic number 96
Curium
Actinide
No photo: here’s why
Curium is so radioactive it glows from its own energy. A sealed speck has flown on Mars rovers to read the chemistry of rocks, but it never leaves shielded handling.
Quick facts
- Atomic mass
- 247.00
- Group
- –
- Period
- 7
- State (STP)
- solid
- Electronegativity
- 1.28
- Common ox. states
- +3, +4
Properties
[Rn] 5f⁷ 6d¹ 7s²
- Ionization energy
- 581.0 kJ/mol
- Electron affinity
- –
- Melting point
- 1618.00 K (1344.8 °C)
- Boiling point
- 3383.00 K (3109.8 °C)
How dangerous is it?
So intensely radioactive that it warms up and glows from its own decay, made only in tiny amounts for research.
- RadioactiveImmediate and cumulative
It throws off alpha radiation at a fierce rate, enough to glow and heat itself, and it severely damages cells if any enters the body. (dangerous mainly once inhaled or swallowed, though loose amounts also need shielding)
Handled remotely in heavily shielded gloveboxes by licensed labs, with strict contamination control.
How it bonds· family overview
Curium (Cm) is an actinide. Like the lanthanides it tends toward a +3 oxidation state, but the early actinides (Th–Am) routinely access +4, +5, +6, even +7 because the 5f electrons are easier to ionize. Most actinides are radioactive; their "bonding" in school is read off the periodic table, not measured in lab.
