Element Facts
SYMBOL
Md
ATOMIC NO.
101
ATOMIC WEIGHT
258
CATEGORY
Actinide
PERIOD
Period 7
GROUP
Group 3
Discovery & History
Mendelevium was synthesised in 1955 by Albert Ghiorso, Bernard Harvey, Gregory Choppin, Stanley Thompson, and Glenn Seaborg at Berkeley by bombarding einsteinium-253 with alpha particles. Named after Dmitri Mendeleev, who created the periodic table. It was the first element synthesised one atom at a time — the team confirmed the discovery from just 17 individual atoms. Seaborg noted the irony of naming an element after the man who predicted gaps in the periodic table, using that very table to guide synthesis.
Where It's Used
Mendelevium has no practical applications. Only a few micrograms have ever been produced in total. Research focuses on its chemistry — it was the first element shown to have a +1 oxidation state in aqueous solution — and on nuclear structure.
Can You Sell It?
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Mendelevium:
Mendelevium exists only as individual atoms synthesised one at a time in cyclotrons. Its most stable isotope (mendelevium-258) has a half-life of just 51.5 days. No commercial use or scrap trade is possible.
Price Guide
No commercial market exists. Mendelevium cannot be produced in macroscopic quantities. Its production cost per atom is immeasurably high.