Fermium

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/fermium

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Fermium?First identified in debris from the 1952 hydrogen bomb test
2. How long is Fermium?Fermium-257 has a half-life of approximately 100.5 days
3. What is the atomic number?100
4. What is the element group?Actinide
5. What is Fermium and where does it come from?Fermium is a very rare, man‑made element created in huge explosions, like the first hydrogen bomb test. It has the symbol Fm and the number 100 on the periodic table.
6. Why is Fermium named after Enrico Fermi?The element was named after the famous scientist Enrico Fermi, who helped build the first nuclear reactor and studied nuclear reactions.

Synthetic Element: An element that does not occur naturally and is produced artificially in laboratories.
Nucleosynthesis: The process by which new atomic nuclei are created from pre-existing nucleons and nuclei.
Oxidation State: A number assigned to an element in a chemical compound that represents the number of electrons lost or gained.