Berkelium
Properties
| Atomic Number | 97 |
| CAS Registry Number | 7440-40-6 |
| Chemical Symbol | Bk |
History
The atomic number is 97 and the chemical symbol is Bk. The name is derived fromBerkeley the town in California where the element was first synthesized in 1949 by the American scientific team under the American chemist Glenn T. Seaborg using the nuclearreaction 241Am( 4He 2n) 243Bk. It is the eighth element in the Actinide series of the elements and was named in analogy with Terbium (for Ytterby the town in Sweden whose mine produced the ore) which is the eighth element in the Lanthanide series of the elements. The longest half-life associated with this unstable element is 1400 year 247Bk.Holden, Norman E., (2004). History of the origin of the chemical elements and their discoverers. National Nuclear Data Center. Retrieved from http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/content/elements.html