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Actinium [Ac] locate me
CAS-ID: 7440-34-8
An: 89 N: 138
Am: [227] g/mol
Group Name: Actinoid
Block: f-block  Period: 7 (actinoid)
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 3753K (3300°C)
Melting Point: 1323K (1050°C)
Density: 10g/cm3
Discovery Information
Who: Andre Debierne
When: 1899
Where: France
Name Origin
Greek: aktinos (beam or ray).
 "Actinium" in different languages.
Sources
Extremely rare, found in all uranium ores. One ton of uranium contains about one tenth of a gram of actinium. Usually obtained by treating radium with neutrons in a reactor.
Uses
Used as a source of neutrons and for thermoelectric power. It has no other significant industrial applications.
History
Actinium was discovered in 1899 by Andre-Louis Debierne, a French chemist, who separated it from pitchblende. Friedrich Oskar Giesel independently discovered actinium in 1902 and called it "emanium" in 1904. Debierne's name was retained because it had seniority.
Notes
It is about 150 times as radioactive as radium.
The chemical behavior of actinium is similar to that of the rare earth lanthanum.
Hazards
Due to its intense radioactivity, actinium glows in the dark with an eerie blue light. 227Ac is extremely radioactive, and in terms of its potential for radiation induced health effects, 227Ac is even more dangerous than plutonium. Ingesting even small amounts of 227Ac would present a serious health hazard.