Plutonium+Peyton+and+Benen


 * Plutonium**

Peyton Henry Benen Elshakhs

1. Chemical and Physical Properties 2. Utility 3. History 4. Comparison to Similar Elements 5. Interesting Facts 6. Purchasing Plutonium 7. Works Cited
 * Table of Contents**:

Plutonium is a rare, metallic, and radioactive element. It is heavy, silver, and would feel warm if one were to touch it. However, since it is poisonous and radioactive, it is very dangerous to work with. Plutonium has an atomic number of 94, meaning it has 94 protons and generally 94 electrons. Its atomic Mass is 244 and its atomic radius is 0.137 nm. Plutonium is actually formed by the absorption of neutrons by uranium. There are over 15 isotopes of plutonium, all of which are radioactive ( IEER Factsheet | Plutonium ). The most notable isotope is plutonium-239, which has a half-life of 24,100 years ( IEER Factsheet | Plutonium ). Plutonium-244 is the most stable isotope, and has a half life of 80.8 million years (NRC: Fact Sheet on Plutonium). Its melting point is 641 degrees Celsius, where its boiling point is 3235 degrees Celsius (Plutonium (Pu)). Plutonium is also soluble in acid and has an atomic volume of 12.32 cm3/mole.
 * 1. CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES **

Plutonium-244 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb [Rn] 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6 4s 2 3d 10 4p 6 5s 2 4d 10 5p 6 6s 2 4f 14 5d 10 6p 6 7s 2 5f 6 : A powerpoint explaining the alpha decay of Plutonium-244



Atomic Symbol: Pu Atomic Number: 94 Atomic Mass: [ 244 ] Boiling Point: 3235°C Melting Point: 641°C (Plutonium (Pu)) media type="youtube" key="XLufmakbiU0?version=3" height="215" width="384"
 * Quick Chart**


 * 2. UTILITY **
 * Plutonium-233 was used to power some equipment on the Apollo missions to the moon (Winter).
 * Plutonium-238 has been used in "radioisotope thermoelectric generators" in space probes meant to travel too far to use solar power from the sun. Two probes it has been used in are the Cassini probe and the Galileo probe (Gagnon).
 * Plutonium-293 was used in the Fat Man (the type of bomb dropped on Japan) (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Today, Plutonium-293 is used in nuclear weapons, and in nuclear powerplants as a fissionable material to produce energy (Gagnon).

Plutonium was first produced synthetically in a lab by chemists; Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, Edward M. McMillan and Arthur C. Wohl in 1941. It was important that the information of the creation of the new element plutonium at the University of California remained confidential because the U.S. was currently involved in World War II, and the government did not want any hint of the production process for the atomic bomb to be released to the enemy countries. The chemists at the University of California created plutonium for the first time by using a cyclotron to accelerate deuterons. At first, they created an isotope known as neptunium-238. However, neptunium-238 has a half life of only 2.1 days. After two days, the element decayed and plutonium was created (Gagnon).
 * 3. HISTORY **



Plutonium is very similar to the elements Uranium and Neptunium, which were discovered prior to the creation of the first Plutonium atom. All three elements are radioactive and can be utilized to generate some sort of power. When Uranium-238 is bombarded with a deuteron (a deuterium nucleus, deuterium is Hydrogen-2, a deuteron is a proton and a neutron), it becomes Neptunium-238, and releases two neutrons. Neptunium-238 has a half-life of 2.1 days, it releases a beta particle (electron) and becomes Plutonium-238 (Gagnon).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 22px;">4. COMPARISON TO SIMILAR ELEMENTS **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 22px;">5. INTERESTING FACTS **
 * Most plutonium is actually synthetically produced using Uranium (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Plutonium (specifically Pu-239) is a key component in many nuclear bombs including the atomic bomb, Fat Man, dropped on Nagasaki, Japan (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) emits a large amount of thermal energy as it decays, and therefore, has been used by NASA in generators to power space probes (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Plutonium was actually injected into human subjects in the 1940s to observe its effects on the human body (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Naturally occurring plutonium was formed at the birth of the solar system from supernova waste (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Plutonium is the most nucleon-rich atom that naturally occurs on the Earth (Interesting Facts About Plutonium).
 * Plutonium is extremely sensitive to changes in temperature or pressure.
 * The name "Plutonium" comes from the planet Pluto (Pluto is no longer classified as a planet) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">(Gagnon).

**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">6. PURCHASING PLUTONIUM ** You can buy plutonium from us for the best prices! media type="custom" key="12166066" The commercial above was copied from a GEICO commercial (@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TL533eR9ns), not our own idea.
 * 0.125 grams of plutonium costs only $2,650
 * Buy 0.5 grams for $9,500 (save $1,100)
 * Buy one gram and save even more! It will only cost $18,000, you save $3,200!

http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/pu.htm#Plutonium (author unknown). "Plutonium (Pu)." // Lenntech //. Lenntech, (revision date unknown). Web. 20 Jan 2012. <http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/pu.htm#Plutonium>. In-text citation: (Plutonium (Pu))
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 22px;">7. WORKS CITED **

@http://www.infobarrel.com/Interesting_Facts_About_Plutonium_(Pu) (last name unknown), Kevin. "Interesting Facts About Plutonium." // InfoBarrel //. Hinzie Media Inc., 2008. Web. 20 Jan 2012. <@http://www.infobarrel.com/Interesting_Facts_About_Plutonium_(Pu)>. In-text citation: (Interesting Facts About Plutonium)

@http://www.webelements.com/plutonium/ Winter, Mark. "Plutonium: the essentials." // WebElements //. University of Sheffield, (revision date unknown). Web. 20 Jan 2012. <@http://www.webelements.com/plutonium/>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In-text citation: (Winter)

@http://www.ieer.org/fctsheet/pu-props.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"IEER Factsheet | Plutonium." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Homepage //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <@http://www.ieer.org/fctsheet/pu-props.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In-text citation: ( <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">IEER Factsheet | Plutonium <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">)

@http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/plutonium.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"NRC: Fact Sheet on Plutonium." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">NRC: Home Page //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 04 Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <@http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/plutonium.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In-text citation: ( <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">NRC: Fact Sheet on Plutonium)

@http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele094.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Gagnon, Steve. "It's Elemental - The Element Plutonium." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Science Education at Jefferson Lab //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Jefferson Lab. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <@http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele094.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In-text citation: (Gagnon)