HHomeBackground Color:He
LiBeActinium Pictures PageBlack White GrayBCNOFNe
NaMgActinium Technical DataAlSiPSClAr
KCaActinium Isotope DataScTiVCrMnFeCoNiCuZnGaGeAsSeBrKr
RbSrYZrNbMoTcRuRhPdAgCdInSnSbTeIXe
CsBaLaCePrNdPmSmEuGdTbDyHoErTmYbLuHfTaWReOsIrPtAuHgTlPbBiPoAtRn
FrRaAcThPaUNpPuAmCmBkCfEsFmMdNoLrRfDbSgBhHsMtDsRgCnNhFlMcLvTsOg
Actinium     

Actinium

Atomic Weight 227[note]
Density 10.07 g/cm3
Melting Point 1050 °C
Boiling Point 3200 °C
Full technical data

Invisibly tiny amounts of actinium occur in some radioactive minerals, hence this picture of a radioactive rock. Actinium is used in thermoelectric generators, where its short half-life lets it generate intense heat.

Scroll down to see examples of Actinium.
The Elements book Mad Science book Periodic Table Poster  Click here to buy a book, photographic periodic table poster, card deck, or 3D print based on the images you see here!
Actinium Poster sample

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Poster sample.
This mineral, Vicanite, appears in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster representing actinium, because this highly unstable element can't reasonably be photographed. The rock probably contains on the order of a few atoms of actinium at any one time, as part of the complex decay chain of the thorium that makes up a much larger fraction of the sample. In no meaningful way is actinium itself visible in the sample, but sadly that's about the best you can do with an element like this. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.
Periodic Table Poster
Source: eBay seller ley646
Contributor: Jim Markitell
Acquired: 20 September, 2005
Text Updated: 4 May, 2007
Price: $15.50
Size: 0.5"
Purity: 0%
Actinium Sample from the Everest Set

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Sample from the Everest Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gases) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

Radioactive elements like this one are represented in this particular set by a non-radioactive dummy powder, which doesn't look anything like the real element. (In this case a sample of the pure element isn't really practical anyway.)

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.

Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Text Updated: 18 January, 2009
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 0%
Actinium Sample from the RGB Set

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Sample from the RGB Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.

The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):


Source: Max Whitby of RGB
Contributor: Max Whitby of RGB
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: <0.2%
Actinium Uranium ore inside a Revigator

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Uranium ore (inside a Revigator).
My Revigator, which contains quite a bit of carnotite uranium ore, probably has more astatine, francium, actinium, and protactinium in it than my depleted uranium metal samples, even though they have far more uranium in them. Look under uranium for a more detailed explanation about what a Revigator is.

Source: eBay seller bettyboop
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 November, 2002
Price: $90
Size: 12"
Purity: <0.1%
Actinium Photo Card Deck of the Elements

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Photo Card Deck of the Elements.
In late 2006 I published a photo periodic table and it's been selling well enough to encourage me to make new products. This one is a particularly neat one: A complete card deck of the elements with one big five-inch (12.7cm) square card for every element. If you like this site and all the pictures on it, you'll love this card deck. And of course if you're wondering what pays for all the pictures and the internet bandwidth to let you look at them, the answer is people buying my posters and cards decks. Hint hint.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 19 November, 2008
Text Updated: 28 October, 2017
Price: $35
Size: 5"
Composition: HHeLiBeBCNOFNeNaMg AlSiPSClArKCaScTiVCrMn FeCoNiCuZnGaGeAsSeBrKr RbSrYZrNbMoTcRuRhPdAg CdInSnSbTeIXeCsBaLaCePr NdPmSmEuGdTbDyHoErTm YbLuHfTaWReOsIrPtAuHgTl PbBiPoAtRnFrRaAcThPaUNp PuAmCmBkCfEsFmMdNoLrRf DbSgBhHsMtDsRgCnNhFlMcLvTsOg
The Elements book Mad Science book Periodic Table Poster  Click here to buy a book, photographic periodic table poster, card deck, or 3D print based on the images you see here!