Periodic Table of Elements

02/05/09

U

Uranium

Atomic Number

92

Atomic Symbol

U

Name

Uranium

	Meaning	Named for the planet Uranus
	Group	Rare earth

Atomic Weight

238.02891

Density, g/cubic cm at STP

18.95

Melting Point, °C

1132

Boiling Point, °C, 1 atm

3818

Naturally Occurring Isotopes

U-233, -234, -235, -236, -238

Discoverer

Klaproth/Peligot

Year

1789/1841

Ionization Energy, eV

6.9141

Configuration

[Rn] 5f3 6d 7s2

Description

Lustrous grey

Description Up until recent years Uranium was used in glass to give it a greenish color. It was also used in bowls and plates (known as Fiestaware) to give it an orange color. Most of Uranium's uses today are miltary related (depleted Uranium is extremely hard, enabling it to penetrate almost any kind of armor). Early nuclear bombs were based on Uranium, but today Plutonium is used more often because it doesn't require enriching. References: Holden, Norman E. (March 30, 2004). "History of the origin of the chemical elements and their discoverers." National Nuclear Data Center. Retrieved October 7, 2005 from http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/content/elements.html "List of elements by boiling point." (September 22, 2005). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 9, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements_by_boiling_point "List of elements by density." (September 22, 2005). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 9, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements_by_density "List of elements by melting point." (September 22, 2005). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 9, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements_by_melting_point "NIST chemistry webBook." (2005). National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved October 6, 2005 from http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/ Zucker, M.A.; Kishore, A. R.; Sukumar, R.; and Dragoset, R. A. (July 2005). "Elemental data index."  National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved October 7, 2005 from http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Elements/cover.html