Title: What is Plutonium? (with pictures)
Headings: What is Plutonium?
What is Plutonium?
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
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Content: Credit for the discovery of plutonium is usually given to a team of scientists at UC Berkeley. Plutonium is a metallic chemical element classified among the actinides on the periodic table of elements. This highly radioactive element is used primarily in weapons and nuclear power plants, and it has become somewhat well known because of these uses. In nature, plutonium is relatively rare, occurring in uranium rich ores in trace amounts; most of the world's working supply of this element is obtained through neutron bombardment of uranium, a close neighbor on the periodic table. The Periodic Table of Elements is arranged by the number of protons in each element. When plutonium is isolated, its appearance may vary, because it has six allotropic forms, meaning that the element has six different structures under normal conditions. These forms vary in terms of density, although they all share the basic chemical properties of toxicity, radioactivity, and reactivity with many other elements. Most forms of plutonium are silvery-gray, but they oxidize to a dull yellow over time. Quantities which are large enough are also warm to the touch, due to the alpha particles they emit as they age.