mendelevium
/ˌmɛndəˈliːvɪəm
/ /ˌmɛndəˈleɪvɪəm/noun [mass noun]
The chemical element of atomic number 101, a radioactive metal of the actinide series. It does not occur naturally and was first made in 1955 by bombarding einsteinium with helium ions. (Symbol: Md) Californium - 249 has a half-life of 350 years; mendelevium - 258, fifty-one days; seaborgium - 266 twenty-one seconds....
- The substance, named mendelevium (abbreviated Mv) [now Md] after the father of the periodic table, was produced by bombarding element 99 with energetic alpha particles from a cyclotron.
- Besides probing fermium further, the team plans next to study element number 101, mendelevium, Backe says.
Origin
1950s: modern Latin, from the name of D. Mendeleev (see Mendeleev, Dmitri).