Actinide

The actinide series is the 15 chemical elements between actinium and lawrencium on the periodic table. They have the atomic numbers between 89 and 103. The actinide series is named after actinium. All of the elements are radioactive. Uranium is the most common natural actinide, and thorium second.

The term ‘actinide series’ has been derived from the first element of the series, actinium. The symbol An is used while referring to any of the actinide series elements.

All actinide series elements are radioactive in nature, they release a large amount of energy on radioactive decay. Uranium and thorium are the most abundant naturally occurring actinides on earth, whereas plutonium is synthetically obtained.

 The actinide elements 
 Atomic Number Name Symbol Picture 89   Actinium    Ac  − 90   Thorium    Th  50px 91   Protactinium    Pa  − 92   Uranium    U  50px 93   Neptunium    Np  50px 94   Plutonium    Pu  50px 95   Americium    Am  50px 96   Curium    Cm  − 97   Berkelium    Bk  50px 98   Californium    Cf  50px 99   Einsteinium    Es  50px 100   Fermium    Fm  − 101   Mendelevium    Md  − 102   Nobelium    No  − 103   Lawrencium    Lr  −

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