ActinideSerie

ActinideSerie refers to the fourteen metallic chemical elements that make up the actinide series, which starts with actinium and ends with lawrencium. These elements are characterized by their atomic numbers 89 through 103. They are found in the f-block of the periodic table and are named after actinium, the first element in the series. All actinide elements are radioactive.

The actinides share similarities in their chemical properties, primarily due to the filling of the 5f electron shell. This results in a common oxidation state of +3 for many of them, although other oxidation states are also observed and are often dependent on the specific element and its chemical environment. Actinium itself is considered a transition metal and is often grouped with the lanthanides, but the remaining fourteen elements are unequivocally actinides.

The naturally occurring actinides include thorium, protactinium, and uranium. All elements beyond uranium are synthetic, meaning they have been created artificially in laboratories. These synthetic actinides are typically produced in nuclear reactors or particle accelerators. Due to their radioactivity and often short half-lives, many of the heavier actinides are difficult to study in detail and are produced in very small quantities. Their properties and potential applications are subjects of ongoing research.