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plutonium

(plo̵̅o̅ tō′nē əm)

☆

noun

a radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, found in trace quantities in native uranium ores and produced by bombarding uranium with deuterons: symbol, Pu; at. no., 94: its most important isotope () is used in nuclear weapons and as a reactor fuel

Origin: ModL, after Pluto (planet) + -ium: so named (1942) by G. T. Glenn T(heodore) Seaborg, E. M. Edwin Mattison McMillan, A. C. Wahl (1917-2006), & J. W. Kennedy (1916-57), U.S. physicists who isolated it (1940), because next to neptunium, as Pluto comes next to Neptune

See plutonium in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun Symbol Pu

A naturally radioactive, silvery, metallic transuranic element, occurring in uranium ores and produced artificially by neutron bombardment of uranium. Its longest-lived isotope is Pu 244 with a half-life of 80 million years. It is a radiological poison, specifically absorbed by bone marrow, and is used, especially the highly fissionable isotope Pu 239, as a reactor fuel and in nuclear weapons. Atomic number 94; melting point 640°C; boiling point 3,228°C; specific gravity 19.84; valence 3, 4, 5, 6. See Table at element.

Origin:

Origin: After the dwarf planet Pluto (from the fact that it follows neptunium in the periodic table)

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