Isotopes of californium projectiles, mortar projectiles, rockets, bombs, land mines, and improvised explosive devices (IED). In the oil industry, Cf-252 neutron sources are used to find layers of petroleum and water in a well. Instrumentation is lowered into the well which bombards the formation with high energy neutrons to determine porosity, permeability, and hydrocarbon presence along the length of the borehole. Californium-252 has also been used in the treatment of serious forms of cancer. In patients suffering from certain types of brain and cervical cancer, Cf-252 can be used as a more cost-effective substitute for radium. Isotopes of californium Californium (Cf) is an
Chemical element of metals. Cu comes from Cuprum, Fe comes from Ferrum, Ag from Argentum. The symbols were not followed by a period (full stop) as with abbreviations. Later chemical elements were also assigned unique chemical symbols, based on the name of the element, but not necessarily in English. For example, sodium has the chemical symbol 'Na' after the Latin "natrium". The same applies to "W" (wolfram) for tungsten, "Fe" (ferrum) for iron, "Hg" (hydrargyrum) for mercury, "Sn" (stannum) for tin, "K" (kalium) for potassium, "Au" (aurum) for gold, "Ag" (argentum) for silver, "Pb" (plumbum) for lead, "Cu" (cuprum) for copper, and