Title: Plutonium, Chemical Element - water, uses, elements, metal, number, name, symbol, property
Headings: PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM
Overview
SYMBOL
Pu
ATOMIC NUMBER
94
ATOMIC MASS
244.0642
Discovery and naming
Physical properties
Chemical properties
Occurrence in nature
Isotopes
Extraction
Uses
Using fuel to make fuel
Compounds
Health effects
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User Contributions:
Karthik
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Content: In fact,  plutonium gives off so much heat that the metal feels warm when it is  touched. If a large piece of plutonium is placed into water, the heat  released can cause the water to boil. Plutonium provides electrical power on space probes and space vehicles. This property makes plutonium a good choice for certain thermoelectric  generator applications. A thermoelectric generator is a device that  converts heat into electricity. Plutonium generators are not practical on  a large scale basis. But they are very desirable for special conditions. For example, they have been used to provide electrical power on space  probes and space vehicles. They have also been used in artificial pacemakers for  people with heart conditions. The isotope most commonly used for this  application is plutonium-238 because the radiation it gives off does not  pose a threat to people's health.