Uranium - Attributes

Chemical Attributes

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Chemical Symbol: U

Atomic Number: 92

Atomic Weight: 238.0289 grams

Melting Point: 1132°C | 1405.15 K

Boiling Point: 3754°C | 4027.15 K

Density: 19.0 kilograms per liter

Orbital Diagram
Uranium Space-Filling Orbitals

Created Using Microsoft Powerpoint

Electron Configuration
1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s²3d¹⁰4p⁶5s²4d¹⁰5p⁶6s²4f¹⁴5d¹⁰6p⁶7s²5f³6d¹

Uranium is a silvery ductile, malleable, radioactive metal and a member of the actinide series of the periodic table of the elements. It tarnishes in the air and is attacked by steam and acids, but not by alkalis. It is one of the three fissile elements, the others are thorium and plutonium.

Uranium consists mainly of three radioactive isotopes: uranium-238, which accounts for 99.3% of the substance overall - and has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, uranium-235 (0.7%, 700 million years) and uranium-234 (0.005%, 245000 years). Also, minute traces of other isotopes, uranium-233, -236, -237, and -239 also occur naturally. Uranium-234 is produced as part of the decay sequence of uranium-235. Both uranium-235 and uranium-238 undergo radioactive decay via a sequence of other elements, all radioactive, until they arrive at lead-206 and lead-207, respectively, which are stable atoms.

Uranium Sample

Sample of Uranium
www.webelements.com

The amount of uranium and lead in various rocks has been used to date them, and the Earth itself -- which is dated at 4.57 billion years old.