Term: plutonium (Pu)
Literally
meaning: “pertainingto
planet Pluto”
Origin:
Πλούτωνας/Plutonas(=Pluto was the god of
underworld, son of Cronus and Rea and brother of Zeus. The earlier word of god
was Hades/Άδης)
>πλούτος/plutos(=wealth, riches) The
name of god is associated with mineral wealth that is found underground
and bountiful harvest because of seeds from deep earth.
Plutonium was named after the planet Pluto as in conformity
with other planet names. Pluto
planet is the second most massive known
dwarf planet in the Solar System. Its
name was given by Venetia Burney (1918-2009) an eleven-year-old girl in England
thinking that the name for the god of underworld is appropriate for a the
presumably dark and cold world of the planet. The planet was discovered by C.W
Tombaugh in 1930.
Coined/History
Plutonium was first synthesized by nuclear chemist
Glenn T Seaborg, Joseph W Kennedy, Arthur C Wahl and Edwin McMillan in 1941 by bombarding
uranium-238 with deuterons. Because of military
secrecy they announced it in 1948. The second atomic bomb used to
destroy Nagasaki in 1945 had cores of
plutonium-239.
Definition
Plutonium is a silvery-gray radioactive chemical element with atomic number 94 and atomic mass 244. The most important uranium isotope is Pu-239
which has a half-life of more 20000 years. Plutonium-239, which can undergo
nuclear chain reactions, is used in nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors.
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