Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A synthetic transuranic element having isotopes with mass numbers from 237 to 256 and half-lives varying from 21 milliseconds to 898 years. All isotopes are radioactive, chiefly by emission of alpha particles, and Cf-252 is a potent neutron emitter. Atomic number 98; melting point 900°C; specific gravity 15.1; valence 3. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a transuranic chemical element (symbol Cf) with an atomic number of 98.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a radioactive transuranic element; discovered by bombarding curium with alpha particles

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After California.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From California + Neo-Latin suffix -ium

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Examples

  • You need some germanium crystals, a pinch of molybdenum, a teaspoon of californium ... and working with those short-lived superheavies is a royal pain, I'll tell you.

    A Corridor in the Asylum 2010

  • Some of the elements, such as francium and californium, were named to honor the places where they were discovered.

    Elements 2009

  • The two transuranium elements most recently discovered, berkelium and californium, correspond to terbium and dysprosium in the lanthanides.

    Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1951 - Presentation Speech 1964

  • So far, CARIBU has only used stable metal ions for charge breeding, but testing has just begun using the radioactive isotopes from the californium source.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • Don't expect much, after all these are the people behind elements like californium and einsteinium.

    Something Awful zackparsons@somethingawful.com (Zack "Geist Editor 2010

  • So far, CARIBU has only used stable metal ions for charge breeding, but testing has just begun using the radioactive isotopes from the californium source.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • So far, CARIBU has only used stable metal ions for charge breeding, but testing has just begun using the radioactive isotopes from the californium source.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories PhysOrg Team 2010

  • So far, CARIBU has only used stable metal ions for charge breeding, but testing has just begun using the radioactive isotopes from the californium source.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

  • So far, CARIBU has only used stable metal ions for charge breeding, but testing has just begun using the radioactive isotopes from the californium source.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2010

  • The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory has produced a dozen superheavy elements called transuranics and bear such names as berkelium, californium, lawrencium and seaborgium.

    SFGate: Top News Stories David Perlman 2010

Comments

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  • Cf.

    December 16, 2007