Mendelevium Properties (25 Facts You Should Know)

Mendelevium is a synthetic chemical element. It displays wide radioactivity due to extremely short lifetime. Let us learn more facts about Mendelevium below.

Mendelevium is heavy element with atomic number greater than 92 thereby falling in transuranic elements category. Mendelevium was the ninth element to be discovered and synthesized in this category. At least seventeen isotopes have been discovered so far but only one or two are stable.

Mendelevium has penultimate shells and if formed when einsteinium is fused with alpha particles. Let us study facts like atomic weight, density etc. about Mendelevium below.

Mendelevium symbol

The atomic symbol or chemical symbol of Mendelevium is Md named after Dmitri Mendeleev for his vision towards formulating the periodic table.

mendelevium logo
Atomic symbol of Mendelevium with Mass number and Atomic number on extreme top left and bottom left.

Mendelevium group in periodic table

The group that Mendelevium belongs to in a periodic table is not specified as it comes in between group 2 and group 3 of the periodic table.

Mendelevium period in periodic table

The period that Mendelevium belongs to in a periodic table is 7th period which is the last period in the periodic table.

Mendelevium block in periodic table

Mendelevium belongs to f block in the periodic table. This is due to the last electron filling the f subshell.

Mendelevium atomic number

The atomic weight of Mendelevium is 101. Number of protons = Number of electrons = Atomic number in a neutral element with No having 101 proton and 101 electrons.

Mendelevium atomic weight

The atomic weight of Mendelevium is 258. It is almost twice the atomic number and total number of neutrons can be calculated from Atomic weight/ mass number.

Mendelevium Electronegativity according to Pauling

The electronegativity of Mendelevium according to Pauling scale is 1.3. It is very low as it is placed in the last period of the periodic table.

Mendelevium atomic density

The atomic density of Mendelevium is 10.4 g/cm3. It is higher than No, another actinide element that is found in between group 2 and 3.

Mendelevium melting point

The melting point of Mendelevium is 1100 K or 827 . It is only the predicted value as Md is a radioactive element with extremely short lifetime to study.

Mendelevium boiling point

The boiling point of Mendelevium is not yet found or extrapolated due to its low stability, short half life and radioactivity.

Mendelevium Van der waals radius

The Van der Waals radius of Mendelevium is 200 pm. All actinide elements have similar Van der Waals radii due to actinide contraction.

Mendelevium ionic/covalent radius

The ionic or covalent radius of Mendelevium is not yet estimated. To calculate the properties, the element must have sufficient long lifetime to remain stable.

Mendelevium isotopes

Isotopes have same number of positive charge, proton and different number of neutrons in the nuclei. Let us estimate the total isotopes of Mendelevium.

Mendelevium has a total of five isotopes. Each isotope has different half life, abundance and decay mode. They are listed below.

Isotopes Abundance Half life Decay mode
256Md synthetic 1.17 hours Epsilon decay
257Md synthetic 5.52 hours Alpha and SF decay
258Md synthetic 51.5 days Alpha, epsilon and beta negative decay
259Md synthetic 1.60 hours SF and alpha decay
260Md synthetic 31.8 days Alpha, epsilon and beta negative decay
Table 1: Isotopes, its abundance, half lives and decay modes of Mendelevium.

Mendelevium electronic shell

Electronic shell is the scientific representation of electrons distribution in different orbits of the element. Let us learn how to assign electronic shell for Mendelevium.

The electronic shell of Mendelevium is 2, 18, 18, 32, 32, 7, 2. Electrons are filled following Hund’s rule and Aufbau’s principle.

Mendelevium energy of first ionization

The first energy of ionization of Mendelevium is 636 kJ/mol for removing the outermost f shell electron and forming a unipositive charged gaseous ion.

Mendelevium energy of second ionization

The second energy of ionization of Mendelevium has not been calculated yet. This is due to its short half life making it difficult to study properties.

Mendelevium energy of third ionization

The third energy of ionization of Mendelevium is not yet estimated yet. The reason being the same; instability and radioactivity.

Mendelevium oxidation states

The oxidation states by Mendelevium are +2 and +3 and +3 is most commonly observed when the two 7s and one 5f electrons are removed.

Mendelevium electron configurations

The electronic configuration of Mendelevium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p6 5f13 7s2. The electrons are filled in the orbitals in increasing order of the energy.

Mendelevium CAS number

The CAS number of Mendelevium is 7440-11-1. This number is unique and only for Mendelevium for any database search.

Mendelevium ChemSpider ID

The ChemSpider ID of Mendelevium is not yet found and measured.

Mendelevium allotropic forms

Allotropes are chemical substances of an element that has different chemical properties with same physical state. Let us check if Mendelevium has allotropes.

Mendelevium has no allotropic forms found so far. Md is a short lived radioactive element with very less stability.

Mendelevium chemical classification

The chemical classification of Mendelevium is listed below

  • Mendelevium is a synthetic radioactive element.
  • Mendelevium is transuranic element.
  • Mendelevium decays radioactively.

Mendelevium state at room temperature

The state of Mendelevium at room temperature is solid. The solid state can be related to the high density, packing fraction and expanded octet with heavy size.

Is mendelevium paramagnetic?

Paramagnetism is a phenomenon observed when unpaired electrons attract the external magnetic field applied to it. Let us check if Mendelevium is paramagnetic or not.

Mendelevium is a paramagnetic material due to the presence of one unpaired electron in 5f subshell. The magnetic moment vector of the electron aligns in the same direction of the external magnetic field.

Conclusion

Mendelevium is a solid synthetic radioactive metal that shows paramagnetism. It has high density, high melting point and size and is placed in the last period of the periodic table.