Everything Everywhere Daily Transuranium Elements (Encore)
Jun 15, 2025
Dive into the mysterious world of transuranium elements, hidden gems beyond uranium on the periodic table. Discover how these unstable elements are synthesized and why they're rarely encountered in nature. Unravel the historical journey of Neptunium and Plutonium, revealing the groundbreaking experiments that led to their identification. Explore the intriguing concept of the 'island of stability' and the balance of forces that could allow future synthetic elements to exist longer. It's a fascinating glimpse into the frontier of chemistry!
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What Are Transuranium Elements?
- Transuranium elements are elements with atomic numbers greater than 92, heavier than uranium.
- They are highly unstable, mostly created by humans, and don't exist naturally in significant amounts.
Atomic Number and Stability
- Atomic number equals the number of protons, defining each element.
- Larger atomic nuclei tend to be more unstable, leading to shorter half-lives.
Discovery of Elements 93 and 94
- In 1940, McMillan and Abelson created element 93, Neptunium, by bombarding uranium with neutrons.
- Glenn Seaborg's team discovered element 94, Plutonium, shortly after at Berkeley.