Einsteinium
Contributor: Everett McBride
About the Display:
Picture of Albert Einstein: Einsteinium was named in honor of physicist Albert Einstein, whose groundbreaking contributions greatly advanced the field of science.
Picture of Everett: This image was captured during Everett's visit to The University of Toledo, where he was introduced to the Living Science Ever-Changing Periodic Table. You can see how excited he was to choose Einsteinium!
Meet Einsteinium – The Mysterious, Glowing Element
Einsteinium might sound like something out of a science fiction story, but it is very real—and seriously fascinating. It’s a synthetic element, meaning it doesn’t occur naturally and has to be made in a lab. With its silvery-white metallic look, it is warm to the touch (don’t try it!). It is extremely radioactive.
einium might sound like something out of a science fiction story, but it is very real—and
seriously fascinating. It’s a synthetic element, meaning it doesn’t occur naturally
and has to be made in a lab. With its silvery-white metallic look, it is warm to the
touch (don’t try it!). It is extremely radioactive. Fun Facts: Einsteinium is so radioactive it glows with a visible blue light - it literally lights up! But it gets even weirder: the heat from its own radioactivity actually destroys its crystal structure, meaning it slowly self- destructs over time.
By Haire, R. G., US Department of Energy. Touched up by Materialscientist at en.wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15127302
Einsteinium was first discovered in December 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and a team of scientists. The discovery came from analyzing the fallout of the Ivy Mike nuclear test, which was the first-ever successful thermonuclear explosion, conducted on November 1, 1952, at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
United States Dep. of Energy 1
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=443002
About the Contributor: Everett is a 6th-grade Honor Roll student at Tiffin Columbian Middle School. In February 2025, he and several classmates visited the UToledo with their teacher, Jim Mason. During the trip, Everett was especially fascinated by the Periodic Table display and enthusiastically chose Einsteinium as his favorite element.
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Symbol: Es
Atomic Number: 99
Atomic Mass: [252]
Electron Configuration: [Rn]5f117s2
Year Discovered: 1952
Discovered By: Albert Ghiorso and colleagues