Plutonium (Pu), radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, atomic number 94. It is the most important transuranium element because of its use as fuel in certain types of nuclear reactors and as an ingredient in nuclear weapons. Plutonium is a silvery metal that takes on a yellow tarnish in air. The element was first detected (1941) as the isotope plutonium-238 by American chemists Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl, who produced it by deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 152-cm (60-inch) cyclotron at Berkeley, California. The element was named after the planet Pluto. Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica
Plutonium was first made in December 1940 at Berkeley, California, by Glenn Seaborg, Arthur Wahl, Joseph Kennedy, and Edwin McMillan. They produced it by bombarding uranium-238 with deuterium nuclei (alpha particles). This first produced neptunium-238 with a half-life of two days, and this decayed by beta emission to form element 94 (plutonium). Within a couple of months element 94 had been conclusively identified and its basic chemistry shown to be like that of uranium. Continue reading from Royal Society of Chemistry
Plutonium was first produced and isolated in 1940 and was used to make the "Fat Man" atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki at the end of World War II, just five years after it was first produced
A large piece of plutonium feels warm to the touch because of the energy given off by alpha decay; larger pieces can produce enough heat to boil water.
This fluctuating number of outer-shell electrons explains why plutonium isn't magnetic: In order for an atom to interact with magnets the unpaired electrons in its outer shell must line up in a magnetic field.
Plutonium generally isn't found in nature. Trace elements of plutonium are found in naturally occurring uranium ores.
Plutonium's most stable isotope, plutonium-244, can last a long time. It has a half-life of about 82 million years and decays into uranium-240 through alpha decay. Continue reading from Live Science
