Polonium (Po)

Polonium is a rare and highly radioactive metal with no stable isotopes, discovered by Marie Curie.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Marie and Pierre Curie discovered polonium in 1898 in pitchblende residues, and Marie named it after her homeland, Poland.
• Polonium-210 is such an intense alpha emitter that a gram heats itself to over 500 degrees Celsius.
• It has served in anti-static brushes and as a heat source in spacecraft, and it became infamous in the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 84
• SYMBOL: Po
• CATEGORY: Post-transition Metal
• ATOMIC MASS: 208.98243 u
• ELECTRONEGATIVITY: 2 Pauling
• ATOMIC RADIUS: 197 pm
• IONIZATION ENERGY: 8.417 eV
• ELECTRON AFFINITY: 1.9 eV
• MELTING POINT: 527 K
• BOILING POINT: 1235 K
• DENSITY: 9.32 g/cm³
• ELECTRON CONFIGURATION: [Xe]6s2 4f14 5d10 6p4
• OXIDATION STATES: +4, +2
• STANDARD STATE: Solid
• GROUP BLOCK: Metalloid
• YEAR DISCOVERED: 1898