Berklium

by Shannon Prendiville

What is a mole? That which we call a mole by any other name would be just as scientifically amazing! Okay, so it’s not Shakespeare, but, then again, this isn’t English, it’s Chemistry. And our moles aren’t just the ones on our faces and backs, but they’re the ones that measure things to the tiniest degree. A mole, in Chemistry, is a quantity of particles of any type equal to Avogadro’s number. I’ll bet right now you’re wondering: "What exactly is Avogadro’s number?" Well, it’s 6.02 x 10^23. Can you even imagine how big of a number that is? It’s amazing! It’s awesome! It’s totally groovy man! A mole is an exact number like how a dozen of something is always twelve of that substance or object. But moles usually pertain to atomic or gram-molecular weight.

In Biology, moles are little mammals that look sort of like groundhogs. My mole is a native of Berkeley, California, hometown of hippies(one of which he is), "free spirits", and the University of California. The University of California is where berkelium(Bk) was discovered. In 1949, Glenn Seaborg, S.G. Thompson, and Albert Ghiorso discovered this synthetic radioactive element by alpha-particle bombardment of americium-241 with helium ions. The atomic number is 97, and this element is classified in the rare earth category. Berkelium is kind of a free spirit in itself because it is extremely unique but not much is known about it. Berkelium does not occur naturally in the biosphere so it normally doesn’t present a risk. It isn’t found in the universe, sun, meteorites, crystal rocks, seawater, streams, or humans. It is synthetically prepared. This element has been studied in a few nuclear research laboratories where its high radioactivity requires special handling techniques and precautions. Berkelium tends to accumulate in the skeletal system, but this is highly dangerous because of its radioactivity. The melting point is said to be 1050 degrees Celcius. Berkelium is the eighth member of the actinide transition series, and was the fifth transuranium element synthesized. It’s first isotope had a mass number of 243 and decayed with a half-life of four and a half hours. The evidence of 249Bk with a half-life of 314 days makes it possible to isolate berkelium in weighable amounts so it can be investigated with macroscopic quantities. There are now eleven known isotopes. One of the first visible amounts of berkelium was berkelium chloride and it was produced in 1962. This weighed 3 billionth of a gram. So TINY!!! Berkelium probably hasn’t been prepared in the elemental form, but chemists expect that it will be a silvery metal, easily soluble in dilute mineral acids. There are a few known compounds: BkO2, BkO3, BkF3, BkCl, and BkOCl. Because of its rarity, berkelium has no present commercial or technological use.

When I heard about this project, I immediately remembered glancing at the periodic table and seeing the element berkelium. I thought it was so awesome that there was an element named after my favorite place to be. I naturally wanted to decorate my mole like a hippie living in Berkeley. You see, for a long while, Berkeley has been a fun place for me. Living only ten minutes away, I constantly am there: shopping, exploring and having a blast. It was where I learned about different walks of life and even saw my first live football game when I was seven or eight years old. So, why wouldn’t I choose to learn about an element and design a mole that would remind me of a huge part of my life?