Actinium symbol Ac is a radioactive
metallic element found in all uranium ores. The atomic
number of actinium is 89; the element is in the actinide series
of the periodic table.
Actinium:
Atomic Information
Actinium was discovered
in 1899 by the French chemist André Louis Debierne.
The element is found in
uranium ores to the extent of 2 parts to every 10 billion parts
of uranium.
Two naturally occurring
isotopes of actinium are known:
1. Actinium-227 is a member of the actinium series, called the
actinium decay series, resulting from
the radioactive decay of uranium-235. It has a half-life of
21.8 years.
2. Actinium-228, is a member of the thorium series resulting from
the decay of thorium-232. This isotope,
known also as a mesothorium-2, has a half-life
of 6.13 hours.
Isotopes ranging in
mass number from 209 to 234 are known.
Actinium melts at
about 1050° C (about 1922° F), boils at about 3200°
C (about 5792° F), and has a specific gravity of about 10. |