Pu meaning in Chemistry ?

Answer:

What is Plutonium mean?

Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation states. It reacts with carbon, halogens, nitrogen, silicon, and hydrogen. When exposed to moist air, it forms oxides and hydrides that can expand the sample up to 70% in volume, which in turn flake off as a powder that is pyrophoric. It is radioactive and can accumulate in bones, which makes the handling of plutonium dangerous.

Plutonium was first synthetically produced and isolated in late 1940 and early 1941, by a deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 1.5-metre (60 in) cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley. First, neptunium-238 (half-life 2.1 days) was synthesized, which subsequently beta-decayed to form the new element with atomic number 94 and atomic weight 238 (half-life 88 years). Since uranium had been named after the planet Uranus and neptunium after the planet Neptune, element 94 was named after Pluto, which at the time was considered to be a planet as well. Wartime secrecy prevented the University of California team from publishing its discovery until 1948.

Plutonium is the element with the highest atomic number to occur in nature. Trace quantities arise in natural uranium-238 deposits when uranium-238 captures neutrons emitted by decay of other uranium-238 atoms.

Both plutonium-239 and plutonium-241 are fissile, meaning that they can sustain a nuclear chain reaction, leading to applications in nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors. Plutonium-240 exhibits a high rate of spontaneous fission, raising the neutron flux of any sample containing it. The presence of plutonium-240 limits a plutonium sample's usability for weapons or its quality as reactor fuel, and the percentage of plutonium-240 determines its grade (weapons-grade, fuel-grade, or reactor-grade). Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 87.7 years and emits alpha particles. It is a heat source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which are used to power some spacecraft. Plutonium isotopes are expensive and inconvenient to separate, so particular isotopes are usually manufactured in specialized reactors.

Producing plutonium in useful quantities for the first time was a major part of the Manhattan Project during World War II that developed the first atomic bombs. The Fat Man bombs used in the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945, and in the bombing of Nagasaki in August 1945, had plutonium cores. Human radiation experiments studying plutonium were conducted without informed consent, and several criticality accidents, some lethal, occurred after the war. Disposal of plutonium waste from nuclear power plants and dismantled nuclear weapons built during the Cold War is a nuclear-proliferation and environmental concern. Other sources of plutonium in the environment are fallout from numerous above-ground nuclear tests, now banned.

reference

Full Form	Category
Private Universities	Academic & Science
Punjab University	Academic & Science
Purdue University	Academic & Science
Pre University	Academic & Science
Princeton University	Academic & Science
Pixar University	Academic & Science
Panjab University	Academic & Science
Pokhara University	Academic & Science
Point University	Academic & Science
Pondicherry University	Academic & Science
Pacific University	Academic & Science
Plovdiv University	Academic & Science
Phillips University	Academic & Science
Purbanchal University	Academic & Science
Pennsylvania University	Academic & Science
Public University	Academic & Science
Persecution University	Academic & Science
Pay Us	Accounts and Finance
Patna University	Bihar State University
Plutonium	Chemistry
Private University	Community
Personal Union	Community
Partition Unit	Computing
Primary User	Computing
Pen Up	Computing
Partial Unquenching	General
The Pesaro Urbino	General
Parents United	General
Permanent User	General
Perineal Urethrostomy	General
Perekhvatchik Uchebnyj	General
The Processing Unit	General
Polyurethene Unlike	General
Proprietary User	General
Pop Up	General
Pigs Upwind	General
Pulling Underground	General
Processing Unit	General
Packaging Unit	General
Pemecah Ummah	General
Processor Unit	General
Poorly Used	General
Processing Units	General
Parallel Universe	General
Power Up	General
PolyUrethane	General
Permanently Unhappy	General
Pumpkins Upwards	General
Paul Usher	General
Personlig Udvikling	General
Points Undone	General
A Processing Unit	General
Partido Unionista	Governmental
PATCHUR	Indian Railway Station
Pesaro e Urbino (Provence)	International
Profesores Universitarios	International
Pest Unit	Internet
Physical Units	Measurement Unit
Per Unit	Measurement Unit
Pass urine	Medical
Peptic Ulcer	Medical
Passing Urine	Medical
Pregnancy Urine	Medical
It Stinks	Messaging
Physical Unit	Military and Defence
Parallel Undirected	Physics Related
Punjabi University	Punjab State University
Personnel Utility	Softwares
Pickup	Space Science
Power Unit	Space Science
Propellant Unit	Space Science
Propellant Utilization	Space Science
Periyar University	Tamil Nadu State University
Palamuru University	Telangana State University
PLUNA	Transport & Travel
Presidency University	West Bengal State University