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curium

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cu⋅ri⋅um

  [kyoor-ee-uhm]
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–noun
a radioactive element not found in nature but discovered in 1944 among the products of plutonium after bombardment by high-energy helium ions. Symbol: Cm; atomic number: 96.
Origin:
1946; < NL; named after M. and P. Curie; see -ium
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cu·ri·um   (kyŏŏr'ē-əm)   
n.   Symbol Cm
A silvery metallic synthetic radioactive transuranic element. Its longest lived isotope is Cm 247 with a half-life of 16.4 million years. Atomic number 96; melting point (estimated) 1,350°C; valence 3. See Table at element.

[After Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cu·ri·um
Pronunciation: 'kyur-E-&m
Function: noun
: a metallic radioactive element produced artificially —symbolCm; —see ELEMENT table
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

curium cu·ri·um (ky&oobreve;r'ē-əm)
n.
Symbol Cm
A metallic synthetic radioactive transuranic element. Atomic number 96; longest-lived isotope Cm 247; melting point (estimated) 1,350°C; valence 3,4.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

curium

synthetic chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, atomic number 96. Undetected in nature, curium (as the isotope curium-242) was discovered (summer 1944) at the University of Chicago by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso in a plutonium isotope, plutonium-239, that had been bombarded by helium ions (alpha particles) in the 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley. It was the third transuranium element to be discovered

Learn more about curium with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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