However, uranium is also a heavy metal, and its chemical toxicity is of greater importance - it is approximately as toxic as lead or mercury. But uranium doesn't deserve it's image as one of the periodic table's nasties. Much of the internal heat of the earth is considered to be due to the decay of natural uranium and thorium deposits.
Perhaps those looking to improve the public image of nuclear power should demand the relabelling of geothermal ground-source heat pumps as nuclear? The reputation of this element would also be significantly better if only uranium glass was the element's most publicly known face. In the same way that lead salts are added to glass to make sparkling crystal glassware, uranyl salts give a very beautiful and translucent yellow-green colour to glass, although glassmakers have experimented to produce a wide range of gem-like colours.
An archaeological dig near Naples in unearthed a small green mosaic tile dated back to 79 AD, which was reported to contain uranium, but these claims have not been verified. However in the early th and early 20 th century it was used widely in containers and wine-glasses. If you think that you own a piece, you can check with a Geiger counter, or by looking for the characteristic green fluorescence of the uranium when held under a UV-lamp.
Pieces are generally regarded as safe to drink from, but you are advised not to drill holes in them, or wear them. Fair enough. Or inadvertently eating it too, presumably. That was Edinburgh University chemist Polly Arnold explaining the softer side of the armour piercing element Uranium.
Next week Andrea Sella will be introducing us to some crystals with intriguing properties. You HAVE to see this. He beckoned me into a hallway. As the crystals caught the light from the new fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, the pink colour seemed to deepen and brighten up. We moved the crystals back into the sunlight and the colour faded again, and moving the crystals back and forth they glowed and dimmed in magical fashion.
But what did they contain? Well, the answer's Erbium and you can hear all about it in next week's Chemistry in its element. I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening and goodbye. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists.
There's more information and other episodes of Chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld. Click here to view videos about Uranium. View videos about. Help Text. Learn Chemistry : Your single route to hundreds of free-to-access chemistry teaching resources. We hope that you enjoy your visit to this Site. We welcome your feedback. Data W.
Haynes, ed. Version 1. Coursey, D. Schwab, J. Tsai, and R. Dragoset, Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions version 4. Periodic Table of Videos , accessed December Podcasts Produced by The Naked Scientists.
Download our free Periodic Table app for mobile phones and tablets. Explore all elements. D Dysprosium Dubnium Darmstadtium. E Europium Erbium Einsteinium. F Fluorine Francium Fermium Flerovium. G Gallium Germanium Gadolinium Gold. I Iron Indium Iodine Iridium. K Krypton. O Oxygen Osmium Oganesson. U Uranium. V Vanadium. X Xenon. Y Yttrium Ytterbium. Z Zinc Zirconium. Membership Become a member Connect with others Supporting individuals Supporting organisations Manage my membership.
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Discovery date. Discovered by. Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Origin of the name. Uranium was named after the planet Uranus. Melting point.
Boiling point. Atomic number. Relative atomic mass. Uranium is found in various types of ore and is about 1, times more abundant than gold! Where about do we find uranium? A word or two on chemistry for a better understanding. Did you know?
From ore to reactor: how is uranium transformed? The ore extracted from the mine is often quite low in grade. Uranium from these ores must therefore be concentrated. The rocks are crushed and then finely ground and the uranium extracted through a number of chemical operations.
Now free of impurities, the uranium can pass to the next stage: enrichment. In order to fuel nuclear reactors and produce electricity, the natural uranium must be enriched with a higher proportion of uranium The 0. Uranium occurs naturally in low concentrations in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. Uranium ore can be mined from open pits or underground excavations. The ore can then be crushed and treated at a mill to separate the valuable uranium from the ore.
Uranium may also be dissolved directly from the ore deposits in the ground in-situ leaching and pumped to the surface. Uranium mined from the earth is stored, handled, and sold as uranium oxide concentrate U 3 O 8. Uranium was discovered in by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsthal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia, located in the present day Czech Republic.
Depleted uranium uranium containing mostly U can be used for radiation shielding or as projectiles in armor-piercing weapons. U and U occur naturally in nearly all rock, soil, and water. U is the most abundant form in the environment. Uranium is an extremely heavy metal. Enriched uranium can be in the form of small pellets that are packaged in the long tubes used in nuclear reactors. Because uranium decays by alpha particles, external exposure to uranium is not as dangerous as exposure to other radioactive elements because the skin will block the alpha particles.
Ingestion of high concentrations of uranium, however, can cause severe health effects, such as cancer of the bone or liver. Inhaling large concentrations of uranium can cause lung cancer from the exposure to alpha particles.
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