Nobelium

Nobelium is a <a href="/facts/Synthetic_element/azU9Nr1m">synthetic chemical element</a>; it has <a href="/facts/Chemical_symbol/2Fe1VAL0">symbol</a> No and <a href="/facts/Atomic_number/bgAr581S">atomic number</a> 102. It is named after <a href="/facts/Alfred_Nobel/D7zGMnJQ">Alfred Nobel</a>, the inventor of <a href="/facts/Dynamite/WQ06BcGK">dynamite</a> and benefactor of science. A <a href="/facts/Radioactive/Ya6FVjt4">radioactive</a> <a href="/facts/Metal/PT8hNX6R">metal</a>, it is the tenth <a href="/facts/Transuranium_element/a12PwdAw">transuranium element</a>, the second transfermium, and is the penultimate member of the <a href="/facts/Actinide_series/kHC4lxJV">actinide series</a>. Like all elements with atomic number over 100, nobelium can only be produced in <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerators</a> by bombarding lighter elements with charged particles. A total of twelve <a href="/facts/Isotopes_of_nobelium/RUrDCTGV">nobelium isotopes</a> are known to exist; the most stable is 259No with a <a href="/facts/Half-life/kGVH8BAB">half-life</a> of 58 minutes, but the shorter-lived 255No (half-life 3.1 minutes) is most commonly used in chemistry because it can be produced on a larger scale.
Chemistry experiments have confirmed that nobelium behaves as a heavier <a href="/facts/Homologous_series/7PKCuvzm">homolog</a> to <a href="/facts/Ytterbium/3lerM9uf">ytterbium</a> in the periodic table. The chemical properties of nobelium are not completely known: they are mostly only known in <a href="/facts/Aqueous_solution/eRNr3MH2">aqueous solution</a>. Before nobelium's discovery, it was predicted that it would show a stable +2 <a href="/facts/Oxidation_state/W53W6s6V">oxidation state</a> as well as the +3 state characteristic of the other <a href="/facts/Actinides/kHC4lxJV">actinides</a>; these predictions were later confirmed, as the +2 state is much more stable than the +3 state in <a href="/facts/Aqueous_solution/eRNr3MH2">aqueous solution</a> and it is difficult to keep nobelium in the +3 state.
In the 1950s and 1960s, many claims of the discovery of nobelium were made from laboratories in <a href="/facts/Sweden/u3qC7lyj">Sweden</a>, the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>, and the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>. Although the Swedish scientists soon retracted their claims, the priority of the discovery and therefore the <a href="/facts/Element_naming_controversy/vBWIPQ9k">naming of the element was disputed</a> between Soviet and American scientists. It was not until 1992 that the <a href="/facts/International_Union_of_Pure_and_Applied_Chemistry/2AV6myCK">International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry</a> (IUPAC) credited the Soviet team with the discovery. Even so, nobelium, the Swedish proposal, was retained as the name of the element due to its long-standing use in the literature.

Nobelium open-in-new

Nobelium