Symbol

Fm

Atomic Number

100

Atomic Mass

257.0951

Family

Actinide Transuranium Element Pronunciation

FER-me-um

Overview

Fermium is one of the transuranium elements, which lie beyond uranium on the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. Uranium is element number 92, so all elements with larger atomic numbers are transuranium elements.

Discovery and Naming

Fermium was discovered in 1952, among the products formed during the first hydrogen bomb test at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. For security reasons, this discovery was not announced until 1955. Credit for the discovery of fermium goes to a group of University of California scientists under the direction of Albert Ghiorso (1915- ). The element was named for Italian physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-54). Fermi made many important scientific discoveries in his life, and was a leader of the U.S. effort to build the world's first...