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What would happen if you shot a uranium bullet at a sample of plutonium?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
If the sample of plutonium was the correct isotope and near it's critical mass (300g IIRC) then it would gain sufficient mass to go super critical and undergo fission. This is the principal with which the first ever nuclear weapons were detonated. However if you're firing at a smaller sample it's unlikely there would be anything other than a chemical reaction with the uranium igniting and forming uranium oxide.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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How is plutonium made?
Plutonium is made by the activation of uranium by neutrons. A shaped amount of refined uranium is lowered into an operating nuclear reactor, and the sample is bathed in the neutron flux of the operating reactor. Uranium atoms capture a neutron (via neutron absorption) and transform into plutonium.There are several ways to create plutonium. One is neutron absorption of uranium, followed by two stages of beta decay ...92238U + 01N --> 92239U --> Beta- --> 93239Np --> Beta- --> 94239Pu... leaving out the electrons and the electron antineutrinos.Another way is deuteron bombardment ...92238U + 12D --> 93238Np --> Beta- --> 94238Pu... again, leaving out the electrons and the electron antineutrinos.
Does uranium 238 have the shortest half life?
The half life of 238U is 4,468.109 years; this is a very long halflife !
If you had a 100 gram sample of plutonium how much would be left in 43 years?
The half life of the isotope 239Pu (the most known plutonium isotope) is 24,200 years; 43 years is practically nothing in comparison is 24,200 years so you would still have 100 grams.
Is depleted uranium radioactive?
Yes, depleted uranium is radioactive, but it is not as radioactive as naturally occurring uranium as it is refined after mining the ore. Depleted uranium is uranium that is "left over" after some of the U-235 isotope has been removed in a process called enrichment. You'll recall that the U-235 is sought after as a fuel in nuclear reactors and as the energy source in nuclear weapons. We might see a quote that depleted uranium is only about 60% as radioactive as natural uranium. Depleted uranium is used in military vehicle armor and in armor-piercing projectiles. The use of this type of projectile can create dust that can be inhaled or enter the water or food supply. Uranium presents a hazard as a heavy metal poison as well as a radiation hazard, and debate continues over the use and long term effects of expenditure of these rounds. A link can be found below for more information to assist you in continuing research.
How long does it take plutonium to decompose?
depends on the type of waste, that determines its halflife. some waste will be safe in just a few decades, other types will take millions of years. if they would reprocess reactor nuclear waste so that uranium, plutonium, and other transuranics were recycled as fuel instead of staying in the waste; the remaining waste could be stored in a repository for 100 to 200 years and be safe after that.
How much Pu 239 is typically found a uranium sample?
A pure and fresh prepared uranium sample don't contain plutonium; only the irradiated (in a nuclear reactor) uranium contain plutonium.
What does uranium look like?
Plutonium is a solid metal, radioactive, very toxic, silver-white color.
To perform Uranium-235 dating on a sample what must be true?
The sample must contain Uranium-235.
How do you make a pure sample of americium?
Americium is an artificial element (only extremely traces exist naturally on the earth); it is obtained by nuclear reactions (from uranium or plutonium) and a very long and difficult process of separation.
How many kilograms of Uranium-238 did the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki each contain?
None. The first atomic bomb was made with enriched uranium. Note: There is a "slight technicality" with this one. Here's the deal. Any time that a small quantity (or a slightly larger quantity) of uranium is found, either in nature or in the physics lab, there will be a tiny bit of plutonium in the sample. Only the tiniest bit, but it will be there. Uranium's isotopes are all unstable, and they will decay by spontaneous fission or alpha emission. Within that decay environment, a few atoms of uranium are transformed into atoms of plutonium. As stated, it's a "technicality" as such, but it's a fact.
How is plutonium made?
Plutonium is made by the activation of uranium by neutrons. A shaped amount of refined uranium is lowered into an operating nuclear reactor, and the sample is bathed in the neutron flux of the operating reactor. Uranium atoms capture a neutron (via neutron absorption) and transform into plutonium.There are several ways to create plutonium. One is neutron absorption of uranium, followed by two stages of beta decay ...92238U + 01N --> 92239U --> Beta- --> 93239Np --> Beta- --> 94239Pu... leaving out the electrons and the electron antineutrinos.Another way is deuteron bombardment ...92238U + 12D --> 93238Np --> Beta- --> 94238Pu... again, leaving out the electrons and the electron antineutrinos.
Why is a sample of uranium compound found to be losing mass gradually?
The cause is the radioactive decay of uranium isotopes.
What do you do to perform Uranium-235 dating on a sample?
The purest uranium is obtained after a long series of chemical processes. Ex.: grinding, dissolving, filtering, ion exchange separation, solvent extraction, etc.
The physicist Henri bacquerel discovered radioactivity while working with a sample of?
uranium
How many elements are in uranium?
In a pure sample, one (uranium itself). In ores, traces of lead, thorium and rare earth elements are usually present.
How many atoms are present in a 15 mol sample of uranium?
Approx. 9.1024 atoms.
How does uranium work?
Uranium-235 is fissionable with thermal neotrons, it is a fissile material. Uranium-238 is fissionable with rapid neutrons, it is a fertile material. Fission of some uranium, plutonium, neptunium isotopes release a formidable energy which can be used to obtain electrical/thermal energy.
