Title: Plutonium | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Plutonium (revised)
Plutonium (revised)
PLUTONIUM (REVISED)
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
Plutonium
Plutonium
Bibliography
plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium
plutonium

Content: First, some of its isotopes will undergo nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is a process in which an element is bombarded with neutrons. The element breaks apart into simpler elements, releasing large amounts of energy. Plutonium has been used to make nuclear weapons (such as "atomic bombs") and in nuclear power plants to produce electricity. Plutonium has also been used as a portable energy supply in space probes and other space vehicles. Discovery and naming
In 1940, American physicists Edwin McMillan (1907-91) and Philip Abelson (1913- ) discovered the first transuranium element, neptunium ( atomic number 93). The neptunium they produced was radioactive. They predicted it would break down to form a new element, atomic number 94. But McMillan and Abelson were called away to do research on the atomic bomb. They suggested to a colleague, Glenn Seaborg (1912- ), that he continue their research on neptunium.