fermium

American  

[fur-mee-uhm] / ˈfɜr mi əm /

noun

Chemistry, Physics.

1. a transuranic element. Fm; 100.

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fermium British  

/ ˈfɜːmɪəm /

noun

1. a transuranic element artificially produced by neutron bombardment of plutonium. Symbol: Fm; atomic no: 100; half-life of most stable isotope, ²⁵⁷ Fm: 80 days (approx.)

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fermium Scientific  

/ fûr′mē-əm /

1. A synthetic, radioactive metallic element of the actinide series that is produced from plutonium or uranium. Its most stable isotope is Fm 257 with a half-life of approximately 100 days. Atomic number 100.

2. See Periodic Table

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Etymology

Origin of fermium

1950–55; named after E. Fermi; see -ium

Example Sentences

The naming of elements No. 100 and No. 101, fermium and mendelevium, had caused little stir, but that relative calm soon shattered.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 27, 2019

Many are named after great scientists: einsteinium, curium, fermium, mendelevium, bohrium and rutherfordium.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2014

The discoveries, of einsteinium and fermium, were initially kept secret for security reasons, then unveiled in 1955, not long after the scientists they had been named after had died.

From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2014

"We expected the alpha particles to join with the heavier isotope of einsteinium," says Hulet, "and then decay by a process called 'electron capture' to fermium 258."

From Time Magazine Archive

Even after that it could be stopped, provided one had a way to get rid of the violently fissioning fermium.

From The Bramble Bush by Schelling, George Luther