The Powder Toy

ThisMustBeHalo

meh, it could be used as a neutron generator/laser if under pressure

ThisMustBeHalo

hm, i guess billion's right, we don't need another radioactive element (PLUT and lightning is good enough for me)

tommig

I might put it in my mod eventually, but not in the coming versions

snateraar

Americium isn't what detects the smoke in smoke alarms. It's just something that helps detecting it.

Quoting Wikipedia:

When gas between the electrodes is ionized by any means, such as by alpha particles, beta particles, X-rays, or other radioactive emission, the ions and dissociated electrons move to the electrodes of the opposite polarity, thus creating an ionization current which may be measured by a galvanometer or electrometer. Each ion essentially deposits or removes a small electric charge to or from an electrode, such that the accumulated charge is proportional to the number of like-charged ions.

(...)

Smoke alarms

The ionization chamber has found wide and beneficial use in smoke detectors. In a smoke detector, the gap between the plates is exposed to the open air. The chamber contains a small amount of americium-241, which is an emitter of alpha particles. These alpha particles carry a substantial amount of energy, and when they collide with gas in the ionization chamber (mostly nitrogen and oxygen) the momentum transferred ionizes the gas molecules—that is, the uncharged gas molecules will lose one or more electrons and become charged ions.

So basically what the americium does, is create alpha particles for the smoke to collide with, which will then fling ions into the electrodes.

New element-Americium