Plutonium

Part I of Essay
is a radioactive metallic element. Although it is occasionally found in nature, mostly all of our is produced artificially in a lab. The official chemical symbol for is Pu, coming from its first and third letters. Its atomic number is ninety-four. is able to maintain it ....

Part II of Essay
.... of California at Berkeley, he bombarded a sample of Uranium with deuterons, the nuclei in atoms of deuterium, transmuting it into plutonium. Shortly after, Seaborg was able to isolate plutonium 239, an isotope used in atomic bombs. Plutonium is a highly dangerous and poisonous element because it rapidly gives off radiation in the form of alpha particles. Alpha particles, which are identical to the nucleus of a helium atom, consist of two protons and two neutrons tightly bound together. Although the particles can only travel about ....