plutonium

plutonium
A transuranium artificial radioactive element, atomic no. 94, atomic wt. 244.064. The best-known α-emitting isotope is 239Pu (half-life 24,110 years) which, like 235U, is fissionable and can be used in atomic bombs and nuclear power plants; 238Pu (half-life 87.74 years) is used as an energy source in pacemakers. Pu ions are bone-seekers; ingestion is a radiation hazard, as with radium and radiostrontium. [planet, Pluto]

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plu·to·ni·um plü-'tō-nē-əm n a radioactive metallic element similar chemically to uranium that is formed as the isotope 239 by decay of neptunium and found in minute quantities in pitchblende, that undergoes slow disintegration with the emission of an alpha particle to form uranium 235, and that is fissionable with slow neutrons to yield atomic energy symbol Pu see ELEMENT (table)

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plu·to·ni·um (Pu) (ploo-toґne-əm) [from the planet Pluto] a heavy, metallic, radioactive element of atomic number 94, atomic weight 242, obtained by the addition of neutrons to uranium, thereby changing it into neptunium and then into plutonium.

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  • Plutonium — (pronEng|pluːˈtoʊniəm, symbol Pu, atomic number 94) is a rare radioactive, metallic chemical element. The most significant isotope of plutonium is 239Pu, with a half life of 24,100 years; this isotope is fissile and is used in most modern nuclear …   Wikipedia

  • Plutonium — Neptunium ← Plutonium → Américium Sm …   Wikipédia en Français

  • PLUTONIUM — Élément chimique artificiel de numéro atomique 94, le plutonium a pour symbole chimique Pu. Par analogie avec les éléments uranium et neptunium le précédant immédiatement dans la classification périodique, il doit son nom à la planète Pluton… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Plutonium — Plutonium: Der Name des radioaktiven chemischen Elements wurde im 20. Jh. aus gleichbed. engl. plutonium übernommen, einer gelehrten Bildung des amerikanischen Chemikers G. Th. Seaborg und seiner Mitarbeiter zum Planetennamen Pluto. Der Name… …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • plutonium — Symbol: Pu Atomic number: 94 Atomic weight: (242) Dense silvery radioactive metallic transuranic element, belongs to the actinoids. Pu 244 is the most stable isotope with a half life of 7.6*10^7 years. Thirteen isotopes are known. Pu 239 is the… …   Elements of periodic system

  • plutonium — (n.) 1942, from PLUTO (Cf. Pluto), the planet, + element ending ium. Discovered at University of California, Berkeley, in 1941, the element named on suggestion of Seaborg and Wahl because it follows NEPTUNIUM (Cf. neptunium) in the periodic table …   Etymology dictionary

  • plutonium — ☆ plutonium [plo͞o tō′nē əm ] n. [ModL, after PLUTO (planet) + IUM: so named (1942) by G. T. SEABORG Glenn T(heodore), E. M. MCMILLAN Edwin Mattison, A. C. Wahl (1917 ), & J. W. Kennedy (1916 57), U.S. physicists who isolated it (1940), because… …   English World dictionary

  • Plutonĭum [1] — Plutonĭum, eine Höhle am Avernersee in Campanien,[220] welche als der Eingang zum Reiche Plutons betrachtet wurde. Auch in Magnesia, Myus, Thymbria u. Acharaka waren Plutonien …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Plutonĭum [2] — Plutonĭum (Min.), so v.w. Baryum …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Plutonium — (Рu) Плутоний искусственно полученный химический радиоактивный элемент (металл) с атомным номером 94. В природе встречается в ничтожных количествах в урановых рудах. Известны 16 изотопов плутония. Термины атомной энергетики. Концерн Росэнергоатом …   Термины атомной энергетики

  • PLUTONIUM — locus Phrygiae magnae, apud Hierapolim, ubi spiracula Ditis, Strab …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

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