# Americium ## 🧊 Americium · 3D (three.js) <iframe src="https://wikitube-elements.netlify.app/?el=Am&embed=1" width="100%" height="620" frameborder="0" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden" allowfullscreen loading="lazy" title="The Elements 3D microsim - Americium"></iframe> *Americium in the live three.js Elements explorer — drag to orbit the atom, click any tile to compare, slide the temperature.* · [▶ open full](https://wikitube-elements.netlify.app/?el=Am) <!-- ELEMENTS_MICROSIM:END --> !Americium plate.svg *Plate 95 of 118 - animated Bohr shells, stylized per Madelung filling; engraving style per house Arcanity kit.* ## Microsim To Do *Claimable rows, house pattern. Real Wikipedia articles only.* - Ionization smoke detector - americium-241 as the active element - [[Radioactive_decay|Alpha decay]] - americium-241 emitting alpha particles in smoke detectors - Neutron activation - americium synthesis from plutonium-239 bombardment - Americium-241 - half-life of 432 years and practical applications ## Links (Wikipedia order) <!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Americium.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) --> `1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash` · `Aaldert_Wapstra` · `Acid` · `Actinide` · `Actinides_in_the_environment` · [[Actinium]] · `Agency_for_Toxic_Substances_and_Disease_Registry` · `Alamogordo,_New_Mexico` · `Albert_Ghiorso` · `Alkali_metal` · `Alkaline_earth_metal` · [[Alpha_decay]] · [[Alpha_particle]] · [[Aluminium]] · `Amalgam_(chemistry)` · `American_Chemical_Society` · `Americas` · `Americium(II)_chloride` · `Americium(II)_iodide` · `Americium(III)_bromide` · `Americium(III)_chloride` · `Americium(III)_fluoride` · `Americium(III)_hydroxide` · 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Infobox grounded in [Wikipedia: List of chemical elements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements), fetched 2026-07-08. Full article: [Wikipedia: Americium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium). <!-- ELEMENTS_MICROSIM:BEGIN (auto-managed block - edits inside will be overwritten) --> ## Key facts (infobox) | | | |---|---| | Symbol - Z | Am - 95 | | Group - Period - Block | f - 7 - f-block | | Atomic weight (Da) | [243] | | Density (g/cm3) | 12 | | Melting - Boiling (K) | 1449 - 2880 | | Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.13 | | Crustal abundance (mg/kg) | - | | Origin | synthetic | | Phase (STP) | solid | | Name origin | the Americas, by analogy with europium | *Bracketed weights are the mass number of the most stable isotope; values in parentheses are predictions (per the source table).* ## Story Americium was first synthesized in 1944 by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso at the University of Chicago, as a byproduct of the Manhattan Project's plutonium production. It is produced by bombarding plutonium-239 with neutrons in nuclear reactors. Americium-241, the most common isotope, has a half-life of 432.2 years and is an alpha emitter. The element was named after the Americas, by analogy with the lanthanide europium (which had been named after Europe). Americium is a silvery-white actinide metal and is radioactive and toxic. Unlike its neighbors in the periodic table, americium has a significant practical application: americium-241 is used in ionization smoke detectors, where its alpha radiation ionizes air molecules, allowing the detector to sense smoke particles. [model-prior - verify] Americium-241 is also used in some medical applications and in research. The smoke-detector application makes americium one of the most widely distributed radioactive elements in everyday consumer products. In this corpus, americium bridges the gap between abstract transuranium chemistry and lived reality—it is a radioactive element that most people unknowingly encounter in their homes, embedded in devices that protect lives. ## Corpus connections Americium is a lived element—widely distributed in smoke detectors in homes and buildings worldwide, making it one of the most familiar radioactive materials to the public despite its hazard. - R.E.A.C.T.I.O.N. - the Chemistry hub - Centers of Excellence Portal - [[Technetium|Technetium - the element made before found]] - the canon's patron - and Technitium, the School - [Smoke detector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_detector) - americium-241 ionization chambers in consumer safety - [Manhattan Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project) - americium as a plutonium-production byproduct ## Vocational-Technical Semiotics The element speaks the canon's shared signs: the periodic table cell (Am, group f, period 7), isotope notation, and hazard pictograms ghs where handling demands it. ## Sources Infobox: [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements) (fetched 2026-07-08); etymology per the same table's notes. Story sources to be added at enrichment. ## Navigation - Canon: Elements Canon index - neighbors by Z: [[Plutonium|Plutonium (94)]] - [[Curium|Curium (96)]] - R.E.A.C.T.I.O.N. - Centers of Excellence ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Americium) ## Previous hub tags Tree parents: [[Helium]] · [[Hydrogen]] · [[Oxygen]]. Legacy hubs: none. --- *Sources: 1 legacy note. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*