How Many Radioactive Elements are Ther

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on May 29, 2023 10:56 AM IST

Introduction

In this article, we will know what actually radioactive elements are, and their types. How many are there? What is the difference between normal elements and these radioactive elements? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Radioactivity was discovered by Henry Becquerel, in 1896, who was a french scientist.

What is Radioactivity?

The phenomenon of a radioactive element is when an element's atoms' nuclei contain more neutrons than are necessary for the stability of the atoms, creating excess energy in the nucleus that makes the atoms unstable and this is known as radioactive elements.

There are three types of radioactivity or radioactive decay, which are

Alpha decay - The alpha particle emits the nucleus.
Beta decay - The nucleus emits the electron or positron.
Gamma decay - The change occurs in the energy level in the nucleus.

Radioactive Elements

There are approximately 38 radioactive elements are there, they are:

Actinium

The atomic number of Actinium is 89, its half-life is 10 days. Its name is derived from the Greek word ‘actinos’, meaning “ray”. It is used in the treatment of cancer. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is a powerful source of alpha rays; has been studied as a heat source for use in the space and treatment of cancer.

Americium

The atomic number of Americium is 95, its half-life is 432.2 years. It is named after America, where it was first made. It is a synthetic element. It is used in smoke detectors; may be used in spacecraft batteries in the future.

Astatine

The atomic number of Astatine is 85, its half-life is 8.1 hours. Its name is derived from the Greek word ‘astatos’, meaning “unstable.” It’s the rarest naturally occurring element. Astatine-211 is used as a radioactive tracer and in cancer treatment.

Bohrium

The atomic number of Bohrium is 107, its half-life is 61 seconds. It is named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Bismuth

The atomic number of Bismuth is 83, its half-life is 2.01x1019 years. It comes from the German Bisemutum, a corruption of Weisse Masse, meaning “white mass”. It is used in alloys for smoke detectors, extinguishers, fuses, and solders; yellow paint; pearly effect in cosmetics; indigestion relief.

Berkelium

The atomic number of Berkelium is 97, its half-life is 4.94 days. It is named after Berkeley, California, where it was first made. It is a synthetic element. Due to its rarity, it has no commercial or technological use currently.

Californium

The atomic number of Californium is 98, its half-life is 2.6 years. It is named after California, where it was first made. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Portable metal detectors; identifying gold and silver ores; detecting metal fatigue of aeroplanes.

Copernicium

The atomic number of Copernicium is 112, its half-life is 28 seconds. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, a Renaissance mathematician who proposed that the sun was at the centre of the universe. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Curium

The atomic number of Curium is 96, its half-life is 163 days. It is named In honour of Pierre and Marie Curie, radioactivity pioneers. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is used in Spacecraft energy.

Darmstadrium

The atomic number of Darmstadrium is 110, its half-life is 12.7 seconds. It is named after Darmstadt, Germany, where it was discovered/ synthesized in a laboratory in 1994. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Dubinium

The atomic number of Dubinium is 105, its half-life is 28 hours. It is named after the Russian town of Dubna. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Einsteinium

The atomic number of Einsteinium is 107, its half-life is 20 days. It is named after Albert Einstein. It was discovered as a component of the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Flerovium

The atomic number of Flerovium is 114, its half-life is 1.9 seconds. It is named after. It is used in Scientific research.

Francium

The atomic number of Francium is 87, its half-life is 22 minutes. It is named in honour of France. 2nd rarest naturally occurring element; the earth’s crust contains less than 1 gram at a time. It is used in Diagnostics for cancer treatment; spectroscopic experiments.

Fermium

The atomic number of Fermium is 100, its half-life is 100.5 days. It is named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, where it was discovered in 1998. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Hassium

The atomic number of Hassium is 108, its half-life is 16 seconds. It is derived from the name of the German state Hesse, where the element was first made in 1984. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Livermorium

The atomic number of Livermorium is 116, its half-life is 53 microseconds. It Honors the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which created the element in 2000 together with the JINR. It provides valuable insights into the behaviour of superheavy ions. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Lawrencium

The atomic number of Lawrencium is 103, its half-life is 3.6 hours. It was discovered by and named for Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1958. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Mendelevium

The atomic number of Mendelevium is 101, its half-life is 51.5 days. It was named after Dmitri Mendeleev, who created one of the first periodic tables. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Meitnerium

The atomic number of Meitnerium is 109, its half-life is 4.5 seconds. It Honors the Austrian physicist Lise Meitner. It May be used to harvest energy in the future.

Moscovium

The atomic number of Moscovium is 115, its half-life is 220 microseconds. It is in honour of Moscow, the capital of Russia, where it was created in 2003. Only a few atoms have been made. It can be used to make nihonium. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Neptunium

The atomic number of Neptunium is 93, its half-life is 396 days. It is named after the planet Neptune. It is used in Scientific research and used to coat tungsten filaments for electronic devices; may be used for nuclear power in the future.

Nobelium

The atomic number of Nobelium is 102, its half-life is 58 minutes. It was named after Honors Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and benefactor of science. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Nihonium

The atomic number of Nihonium is 113, its half-life is 10 seconds. It is named after Nihon is “Japan” in Japanese. It was the first element discovered in Asia. It is used in Scientific research.

Oganesson

The atomic number of Oganesson is 118, its half-life is 89 microseconds. It is named after Honoring Yuri Oganessiana, a pioneer in the discovery of synthetic elements. It is used in Scientific research. It is a synthetic element.

Plutonium

The atomic number of Plutonium is 94, its half-life is 24,100 years. It is named after the planet Pluto. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is used in Nuclear power; nuclear weapons; spacecraft energy.

Promethium

The atomic number of Promethium is 61, its half-life is 17.7 years. It was named after r Prometheus from Greek mythology, a titan who stole fire from the gods and granted it to humans. It is used in Luminous paint; nuclear batteries for guided missiles; time-keeping devices; light sources.

Protactinium

The atomic number of Protactinium is 91, its half-life is 1.17 minutes. Its name is derived from the Greek protos, meaning “first”. It is used in Scientific research.

Polonium

The atomic number of Polonium is 84, its half-life is 138.4 days. It was named after Poland, the native country of Marie Curie, who first isolated the element. it is used in Anti-static devices; heat sources for space equipment; neutron triggers for nuclear weapons. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element.

Rutherfordium

The atomic number of Rutherfordium is 104, its half-life is 1.3 hours. It was named after Honors New Zealand scientist Ernest Rutherford. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Roentgenium

The atomic number of Roentgenium is 111, its half-life is 100 seconds. It was named after Honors Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who won a Nobel prize for discovering X-rays. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Radon

The atomic number of Radon is 86, its half-life is 3.8 days. Its name is derived from

“radium,” as it was first observed as an emission from radium during radioactive decay. It is used in the treatment of cancer. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is used in Early cancer treatment: Radon gas was sealed in tubes and then inserted into tumours.

Radium

The atomic number of Radium is 88, its half-life is 1600 years. Its name is derived from m Latin radius, which means “ray”. It is used in Radiotherapy for cancer (especially bone cancer); luminous paints and clock faces.

Seaborgium

The atomic number of Seaborgium is 106, its half-life is 14 minutes. It was named after Honors American nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Technetiium

The atomic number of Technetiium is 43, its half-life is 211,000 years. Its name is derived from the Greek tekhnetos, meaning “artificial”. It is used in Medical diagnostic studies; inhibits the corrosion of steel.

Tennessine

The atomic number of Tennessine is 117, its half-life is 80 microseconds. It was named after Honors Tennessee, where many of the scientists on the Russian-American team that created it in 2010 resided. It is a synthetic element. It is used in Scientific research.

Thorium

The atomic number of Thorium is 90, its half-life is 14 billion years. It is named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is used to coat tungsten filaments for electronic devices; may be used for nuclear power in the future.

Uranium

The atomic number of Uranium is 92, its half-life is 4.47 billion years. It is named after the planet Uranus. It is a non-synthetic space equipment element. It is used in Nuclear submarines and weapons; nuclear power; depleted uranium may be used as a metal for ships, ammunition, and armour.