CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
| Physical Description | A man-made, radioactive metal with a melting point of 1173 degrees C; [Merck Index] ". . . a silvery, ductile, very malleable, non-magnetic metal." [ATSDR ToxProfiles] |
|---|---|
| Color/Form | Silvery metal /Zero valence americium/ |
| Boiling Point | 2,067 °C /Americium metal/ |
| Melting Point | 1,173 °C /Americium metal/ |
| Solubility | Dissolves readily in aq HCl; insoluble in liquid ammonia. /Americium metal/ |
| Density | 13.671/Americium metal/ |
| Stability/Shelf Life | Am3+ ion /is/ stable; difficult to oxidize. /from table/ |
| Other Experimental Properties | There are 17 isotopes and isomers of americium that are now recognized(1). Americium-232 through 247 are artificially produced and all are radioactive(2). |
| Chemical Classes | Physical/Radiation -> Radionuclides |
COMPUTED DESCRIPTORS
| Molecular Weight | 243.061380 g/mol |
|---|---|
| Hydrogen Bond Donor Count | 0 |
| Hydrogen Bond Acceptor Count | 0 |
| Rotatable Bond Count | 0 |
| Exact Mass | 243.06138 g/mol |
| Monoisotopic Mass | 243.06138 g/mol |
| Topological Polar Surface Area | 0 Ų |
| Heavy Atom Count | 1 |
| Formal Charge | 0 |
| Complexity | 0 |
| Isotope Atom Count | 0 |
| Defined Atom Stereocenter Count | 0 |
| Undefined Atom Stereocenter Count | 0 |
| Defined Bond Stereocenter Count | 0 |
| Undefined Bond Stereocenter Count | 0 |
| Covalently-Bonded Unit Count | 1 |
| Compound Is Canonicalized | Yes |
PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
description
Americium is a man-made radioactive chemical. Americium has no naturally occurring or stable isotopes. Two important isotopes of americium are americium 241 (241Am) (read as americium two-forty-one) and243Am. Both isotopes have the same chemical behavior in the environment and the same chemical effects on your body.241Americium is used in ionization smoke detectors. There is no broad commercial use for243Am. Nuclear reactors, nuclear explosions, or the radioactive transformation of plutonium can produce both241Am and243Am. These isotopes transform by giving off alpha radiation and turning into radionuclides of other elements. The half-life of a radioactive material is the time it takes for half of the material to give off its radiation. The half-life of241Am is 432 years and that of243Am is 7,370years.