By Nicholas Wlezien
Symbol: Pu
Name: Plutonium
Atomic Number: 94
Atomic mass: 244 amu
Number of Protons and Electrons: 94
Number of Nuetrons: 150
Classification: Rare Earth
Uses: Bombs and Nuclear Reactors
Group Name: Actinoid
Period: 7
Color: Silvery White
Obtained From: some uranium ores, man-made
Date of Discovery: 1940
Discoverers: G.T. Seaborg Joseph W. Kennedy, Edward M. McMillan and Arthur C. Wohl
Name Origin: The Planet Pluto
Plutonium tarnishes when it is exposed to air. And it is solid at room temperature.
At room temperature Plutonium is also silvery white, smooth, and dusty.
It is also used to make nuclear weapons, and nuclear fuel.
G.T. Seaborg Joseph W. Kennedy, Edward M. McMillan and Arthur C. Wohl was trying to learn more about transuranium chemistry. So he could safely say that Plutonium can be isolated. So that it would not spread radiation. And in 1942 Seaborg isolated an amount of plutonium.
Plutonium is extremely toxic. And it spreads radiation. Thats why it is a enviromental problem. It is also pyrophoric, which means that it oxidizes, and can become very hot when exposed to air. And can light near flammable materials.
1) Pu was adsorbed on anion-exchange resin in nitric acid solution at about 60°C, and was eluted with nitric acid.
(2) Plutonium was recovered with a yield of 97%.
(3) High purity plutonium was obtained, leaving 241Am*1 in the waste solution.
An Ion exchange is an exchanging of ions between two electrolytes*2
*Americium
* any substance that contains free ions that can make up a substance that is electrically conductive
Plutonium was first discovered by a scientests by the name of G. T. Joseph W. Kennedy, Edward M. McMillan and Arthur C. Wohl Seaborg, in 1940, by bombarding an isotope of uranium, uranium-238, with deuterons that had been accelerated in a device called a cyclotron. And it was named after the planet pluto. Today it is used to make nuclear weapons and fuel.
First Energy Level: 2
Second Energy Level: 8
Third Energy Level: 18
Fourth Energy Level: 32
Fifth Energy Level: 24
Sixth Energy Level: 8
Seventh Energy Level: 2