Uranium [U] (CAS-ID: 7440-61-1) locate me
An: 92 N: 146 Am: 238.02891 (3)
Group Name: Actinoid
Block: f-block  Period: 7 (actinoid)
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: metallic grey Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 4405.3K (4131'C)
Melting Point: 1405K (1132.2'C)
Density: 19.1g/cm3
Shell Structure diagram | Atomic Radius diagram
Isotopes | Allotropes | More Info
Discovery Information
Who: Martin Klaproth
When: 1789
Where: Germany
Name Origin
From planet Uranus.
Sources
Occurs in many rocks, but in large amounts only in such minerals as pitchblende and carnotite.
Uses
For many centuries it was used as a pigment for glass. Now it is used as a fuel in nuclear reactors and in nuclear bombs. Depleted Uranium (238U) is used in casings of armor piercing arterial shells, armor plating on tanks and as ballast in the wings of some large aircraft.
Notes
Potential occupational carcinogen (lung cancer). All isotopes and compounds of uranium are toxic, teratogenic and radioactive. Finely-divided uranium metal presents a fire hazard because uranium is pyrophoric, so small grains will ignite spontaneously in air at room temperature.
Images