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berkelium

(bʉrk′lē əm)

☆

noun

a radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, initially produced by bombarding americium with high-energy alpha particles in a cyclotron, and now prepared by intense neutron bombardment of plutonium: symbol, Bk; at. no., 97

Origin: ModL, after Berkeley, Calif. + -ium: so named by Glenn T. Seaborg, U.S. chemist and one of its discoverers, by analogy with terbium

See berkelium in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun Symbol Bk

A synthetic transuranic radioactive element having 9 isotopes with mass numbers from 243 to 250 and half-lives from 3 hours to 1,380 years. Atomic number 97; melting point 986°C; valence 3, 4. See Table at element.

Origin:

Origin: After Berkeley, California

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