Uranium -- by Mike Mangelli

Why is this element important in everyday life?

Uranium is an extremely important element in everyday life. It is used in nuclear fuels to generate electrical power. Uranium is used in X-Ray targets for production of high-energy X-Rays. The most important compound of Uranium is Uranium Hexafluoride gas which can be used to separate Uranium-238 from Uranium-235, and is the main ingredient of the atomic bomb.

Where is this element found in nature?

Uranium is found in rocks forming the continental and oceanic crusts, and in samples of the Earth's mantle exposed as uplifted slices in mountain belts or as "xenoliths" in basalts and kimberlites (hosts of diamonds). It is found most abundantly on the continent of Australia.

What are the properties of the element?

General Characteristics =

Atomic Symbol = U

Period Number = 7, Actinide Series

Group Number and Family Name = Na

Atomic Number = 92

Atomic Mass = 238.0289

Density = 18.95 (g/cubic cm)

Melting Point = 1132.3 degrees Celsius

Boiling Point = 3818 degrees celsius

Electron Configuration = 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s²3d¹⁰4p⁶5s²4d¹⁰5p⁶6s²4f¹⁴5d¹⁰6p⁶7s²5f⁴

Shorthand Notation = [Rn]7s²5f⁴

Common Reactions =

Interesting Information = Discovered by Martin Klaproth of Germany in 1789. Uranium - 238 is the heaviest atom commonly found in nature.

Who is ?

Mr. Uranium Mr. Uranium came into the big university town one day. The townspeople feared him because he was so big, dark and mysterious looking. He decided he wanted to become friends with the people and let them make use of his powers. He knew he had useful qualities and that he could contribute to society and be of benefit to mankind. In fact, it was recently discovered that he had some very powerful qualities. On the one hand, he could be very beneficial to society in that his powers could be used to generate cheaper electricity. However, on the opposite side of the coin, his powers could be used to destroy civilization in the form of the atomic bomb. He had to make sure he got into the right hands so that he wouldn't become destructive and they built a power plant that generated the electricity for the school and town. He actually became a hero at that point in time. People started using a lot of him all over the world for electric generation. After a time he started to become scarce and it was discovered that the radioactive waste that resulted from his use was a danger to society. There is a lot of this waste and no one can figure out where to safely store it since it can remain dangerous for many years. As a result, society never has used Mr. Uranium to his full potential.