Mendelevium

synthetic elements · radioactive · periodic table · heavy atoms

Created in labs. Mendelevium doesn't exist naturally on Earth. Scientists first made it in 1955 by smashing lighter atoms together in a machine called a particle accelerator.

Super radioactive. Mendelevium is radioactive, which means its atoms break apart and release energy. It's so unstable that it can't be kept around for very long.

Honors a genius. This element is named after Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian scientist who created the periodic table by organizing all the elements in a clever way.

Impossible to grab. Unlike most elements, scientists can only make teeny-tiny amounts of mendelevium. It's so hard to make that we can never get enough to hold in your hand.

Breaking new ground. Mendelevium was the first element discovered that sits in a special group on the periodic table called the transfermium elements.