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: Plutonium | Encyclopedia.com
Science and Technology
Chemistry
Compounds and Elements
plutonium
Plutonium (revised)
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PLUTONIUM (REVISED)
Note: This article, originally published in 1998, was updated in 2006 for the eBook edition. Overview
Plutonium is a synthetic (artificial) element. It exists naturally only in the smallest imaginable amounts. Plutonium was first prepared artificially by a team of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) in 1941. News of this discovery was not released, however, until 1946. This delay was caused by the need for secrecy about scientific developments during World War II (1939-45). Plutonium is a member of the actinide family. The actinides occur in Row 7 of the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to one another.