Fermium
Fermio (Fm, Z=100)
- Date
- 1952 · confidence high
- Place
- Berkeley, California, United States (Ivy Mike debris, Enewetak)
- Credited to
- Albert Ghiorso and collaborators (Berkeley, Argonne, Los Alamos)
- People
- 👤 Glenn T. Seaborg1912–1999
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Found alongside einsteinium in debris from the Ivy Mike test; only about 200 atoms of Fm-255 were detected.
Named in honour of Enrico Fermi.
What it led to
- Last element obtainable by neutron capture in a reactor
- Limit of trace-scale chemistry
- The name 'transfermium' for the following elements
Built on
- Hydrogen bomb (Ivy Mike)1952
- Ion exchange
Made possible
- Studies of spontaneous fission