curium

American  

[kyoor-ee-uhm] / ˈkyʊər i əm /

noun

1. a radioactive element not found in nature but discovered in 1944 among the products of plutonium after bombardment by high-energy helium ions. Cm; 96.

---

curium British  

/ ˈkjʊərɪəm /

noun

1. a silvery-white metallic transuranic element artificially produced from plutonium. Symbol: Cm; atomic no: 96; half-life of most stable isotope, ²⁴⁷ Cm: 1.6 x 10 ⁷ years; valency: 3 and 4; relative density: 13.51 (calculated); melting pt: 1345±400°C

---

curium Scientific  

/ kyr′ē-əm /

1. A synthetic, silvery-white, radioactive metallic element of the actinide series that is produced artificially from plutonium or americium. Curium isotopes are used to provide electricity for satellites and space probes. Its most stable isotope has a half-life of 16.4 million years. Atomic number 96; melting point (estimated) 1,350°C; valence 3.

2. See Periodic Table

---

Etymology

Origin of curium

1946; < New Latin; named after M. and P. Curie; -ium

Example Sentences

There are already two different drug injections that can be used to treat people who have been exposed to radioactive plutonium, americium or curium.

From BBC

The most stable isotopes of americium and curium decay faster than uranium’s most stable isotopes.

From Scientific American

Two of nuclear waste’s most problematic ingredients are metals called americium and curium; each has particularly long-lived forms that decay slowly over thousands of years.

From Scientific American

The observed abundances of the short-lived curium-247 and iodine-129 isotopes in the early solar system show this depletion, ruling out supernovae.

From Scientific American

The court’s 1 1 /2 -page per curium decision said the Massachusetts justices erred in several ways in ruling that stun guns, which produce a non-lethal electrical charge, were not covered by the Heller decision.

From Washington Post