NOBELIUM Element Symbol: No Atomic Number: 102

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KERRY LAMB www.raci.org.au NOBELIUM Element symbol: No Atomic number: 102 The credit for discovering Nobelium was disputed with 3 different research teams claiming the discovery. While the first claim dates back to 1957, it was not until 1992 that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry credited the discovery to a research team from Dubna in Russia for work they did in 1966. The element was named Nobelium in 1957 by the first of its claimed discoverers (the Nobel Institute in Sweden). It was named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist who invented dynamite, held more than 350 patents and bequeathed his fortune to the establishment of the Nobel Prizes. Nobelium is a synthetic element and does not occur in nature and has no known uses other than in scientific research as only tiny amounts of the element have ever been produced. Nobelium is radioactive and most likely metallic. The appearance and properties of Nobelium are unknown as insufficient amounts of the element have been produced. Nobelium is made by the bombardment of curium (Cm) with carbon nuclei. Its most stable isotope, 259No, has a half-life of 58 minutes and decays to Fermium (255Fm) through alpha decay or to Mendelevium (259Md) through electron capture.

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ARTISTS DESCRIPTION I wanted to depict Alfred Nobel, the namesake of Nobelium, as a resolute young man, wearing the Laurel wreath which is the symbol of victory. I imagine that, outwardly, that would be the case but I am sure that Nobel would have preferred to give his competitors a more modern hand-signal!

KERRY LAMB