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| Occurrence and Production of Curium |
 Synthesis
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| Curium-242 (half-life 163 days) and one free neutron were made by bombarding alpha particles (helium nuclei) onto a plutonium-239 target in the 60-inch cyclotron at Berkeley. Louis Werner and Isadore Perlman created a visible sample of curium-242 hydroxide at the University of California in 1947 by bombarding americium-241 with neutrons. Curium was made in its elemental form in 1951 for the first time. |