Additional analysis and further experimentation showed the produced mendelevium isotope to have mass 256 and to decay by electron capture to fermium-256 with a half-life of 1.5 h. We thought it fitting that there be an element named for the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who had developed the periodic table. read more
In alpha decay, an alpha particle (a helium nucleus) is emitted from the radioactive atom, and the atom therefore loses 2 protons, and becomes a new element. An example is: ""_103^256Lr->""_101^252Md+""_2^4He This is alpha decay of lawrencium, an unstable synthetic element, where it decays into mendelevium-251 and emits out an alpha particle. read more