Chemical element · Atomic number 98
Californium
Californium in the periodic table: atomic number 98, electron configuration, atomic mass, physical data, oxidation states, media credit and visible sources.
Actinide
solid
[251.07959] u
Generated illustrationGenerated illustration, Quanta Study. Not a photograph of a sample.
Generated illustration of Californium; the image does not show a sample of the element.
Transuranic element handled only in specialised laboratories in tiny amounts; no freely licensed sample photograph is available.
Code-native illustration with the Quanta Study mark inside the image; not a photograph, no AI model involved.
Atomic classification
Shell occupancy
Californium in the Bohr shell model
This shows the electron distribution of the neutral atom in a simplified shell model.
- K · n=1
- 2 electrons
- L · n=2
- 8 electrons
- M · n=3
- 18 electrons
- N · n=4
- 32 electrons
- O · n=5
- 28 electrons
- P · n=6
- 8 electrons
- Q · n=7
- 2 electrons
- Electron configuration
- [Rn]7s2 5f10
- Electrons per shell
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 28 · 8 · 2
- Group
- not reported
- Period
- 7
- Block
- F
- Element category
- Actinide
Physical and chemical properties
- Atomic mass
- [251.07959] u
- Standard state
- solid
- Density
- not reported
- Melting point
- 1,173 K
- Boiling point
- not reported
- Electronegativity
- 1.3 (Pauling)
- First ionisation energy
- 6.3 eV
- Oxidation states
- +3
- Discovery
- 1950
Safety and periodic classification
Safety
Safe handling cannot be inferred from Californium's position in the periodic table alone. Laboratory, classroom and disposal decisions must follow the documentation for the exact material and its safety data sheet.
Position and comparison
Californium is in period 7 and the F block. Its direct neighbours by atomic number are Berkelium and Einsteinium. The recorded Pauling electronegativity is 1.3. Periodic trends are compared only through the separately sourced neighbouring values.
Sources and scope
PubChem attributes element data to sources including IUPAC, NIST and IAEA. Quanta stores the referenced snapshot locally and leaves unknown values unavailable.
Where Californium sits among the 118 elements
The table compares the reported values for Californium with every other element that carries the same value in the snapshot. A rank is not a judgement, it is orientation: it says how unusual this value is across the periodic table.
| Value | Californium | Position in the data set |
|---|---|---|
| Melting point | 1,173 K | Rank 53 of 103 elements with a reported value. Highest: Carbon. |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.3 | Rank 66 of 95 elements with a reported value. Highest: Fluorine. |
| Ionisation energy | 6.3 eV | Rank 63 of 102 elements with a reported value. Highest: Helium. |
All values and ranks come from the PubChem Periodic Table snapshot, retrieved on 2026-07-15. Elements without a reported value are excluded, so the population differs per row.
The neighbours of Californium in the periodic table
- Place in the table
- No group number, period 7, F block. Classified as actinide, solid at standard conditions.
- Direct neighbours
- Atomic number 98. Preceded by Berkelium, followed by Einsteinium.
- Discovery
- Recorded in the snapshot as: 1950. Who, where and under what circumstances is not part of that record, so this page carries the sourced year and no discovery narrative.
- Oxidation states
- +3. They follow from the electron configuration [Rn]7s2 5f10 and indicate which compounds to expect.
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