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Nt1310 Unit 6 Research Paper

Decent Essays

o Identify the element
Uranium – Chemical symbol U. It has the atomic number of 92, with 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons.

o Identify the isotopes of this element and represent them using the correct conventions.
Natural uranium consists of three isotopes: uranium-238, uranium-235 and uranium-234. Uranium 236, 233 and 232 are also produced by reactors from uranium-235 and thorium – these are the artificial isotopes. The three natural isotopes and the three artificial isotopes are all alpha emitters. Also, all isotopes of uranium are radioactive, with most having extensive half-lives.

o Describe when the element and isotope were discovered or manufactured and by whom.
Uranium was discovered in 1789, by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist. He first believed the substance he got from pitchblende was pure uranium, but it was actually …show more content…

Urainum-238 has a half-life of around 4.5 billion years, meaning that half the atoms in any sample will decay in that amount of time (4.5 billion years). Uranium-238 emits alpha particles which are less powerful than other forms of radiation, and weak gamma rays. As long as it remains outside the body, uranium poses little health …show more content…

It refers to the radioactive decay of different distinct radioactive decay products as a chained series of transformation. Although, most radioisotopes do not decay straight to a stable state, but undergo a series of decays until eventually a stable isotope is completed. Urainium-238 decays by alpha emission into thorium-234, which itself then decays by beta emission to protactinium-234, which decays by beta emission to uranium-234 and so on. The numerous decay products, sometimes referred to as “progeny” or “daughters”, form a series starting at uranium-238. After many more alpha and beta decays, the series ends with the stable isotope

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