Berkelium

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  berkelium \ber*ke"li*um\ (b[~e]r*k[=e]"l[-e]*[u^]m), n. [from
     the city of Berkeley, California, location of the University
     of California campus where it was discovered.]
     a chemical element of the transuranic series. Chemical symbol
     Bk; atomic number 97; atomic weight 247. It is a radioactive
     element, with no stable isotopes; the longest-lived isotope


     is of mass number 247.07, decaying by alpha-emission with a
     half-life of 1,400 years. The isotope with atomic weight 249
     has a half-life of 314 days, and was isolated in weighable
     quantities.
  
     Syn: Bk.
          [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  berkelium
       n : a radioactive transuranic element; discovered by bombarding
           americium with helium [syn: {Bk}, {atomic number 97}]

From Elements database 20001107 [elements]:

  berkelium
  Symbol: Bk
  Atomic number: 97
  Atomic weight: (247)
  Radioactive metallic transuranic element. Belongs to actinoid series.
  Eight known isotopes, the most common Bk-247, has a half-life of
  1.4*10^3 years. First produced by Glenn T. Seaborg and associates in 1949
  by bombarding americium-241 with alpha particles.