102
Nobelium
Atomic Number102
Atomic Mass259 u
CategoryActinide
State at Room TempSolid
Year Discovered1966
About Nobelium
Named after Alfred Nobel, but the credit fight was messy: teams in Stockholm, Dubna, and Berkeley all claimed it, and naming disputes over the element helped push Cold War science toward joint committees. Its chemistry, measured on single atoms, resembles a heavier ytterbium. Only thousands of atoms have ever existed, none lasting more than an hour.
More Actinides
92
Uranium
The heaviest naturally abundant element. Named after the planet Uranus. Enriched...
94
Plutonium
Named after the dwarf planet Pluto, following the uranium-neptunium-plutonium se...
89
Actinium
Glows an eerie pale blue in the dark as its radiation excites the surrounding ai...
90
Thorium
Named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thorium oxide glowed white in gas la...