a white metallic transuranic element artificially produced from plutonium. It is used as an alpha-particle source. Symbol: Am; atomic no: 95; half-life of most stable isotope, 243Am: 7.4 × 103 years; valency: 2,3,4,5, or 6; relative density: 13.67; melting pt: 1176°C; boiling pt: 2607°C (est)
Word origin
C20: from America (because it was discovered at Berkeley, California) + -ium
americium in American English
(ˌæmərˈɪʃiəm; ˌæmərˈɪsiəm)
US
noun
a radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, produced by the beta decay of an isotope of plutonium: symbol, Am; at. no., 95
Word origin
ModL, after America + -ium: so named by Seaborg, one of its discoverers, by analogy with europium, the corresponding rare earth