neptunium
1
9.9
- noun
- /nɛpˈtjuːniəm/
- Specialized
:
neptunio
- These included radioisotopes of phosphorus, zinc, chromium, arsenic, and neptunium.
- neptunium and plutonium
- neptunium and americium
Examples
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Just as Neptune comes right after Uranus in the solar system, so too does neptunium come right after uranium in the periodic table.
Academic text (2002) -
Neptunium was discovered by the nuclear physics group working at the University of California, Berkeley.
Academic text (2002) -
And so early on, he and his team produced neptunium by neutron capture, followed by beta decay.
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But once formed, this neptunium is also exposed to the same neutron bombardment.
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Neptunium-239 actually has a very short half-life, but it decays to plutonium-239, which has a half-life of approximately 24,000 years.
Academic text (1990) -
The Berkeley cyclotron created many elements never (or almost never) found in nature—including plutonium, which directly follows neptunium in the table.
Academic text (2002) -
Neptunium is a radioactive element with the symbol Np and atomic number 93.
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Scientists produced neptunium as a by-product of plutonium during nuclear experiments.
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In trace amounts, neptunium can be found in uranium ores mined for fuel.
Synonyms
1
9.8
A radioactive metal made by people and found in small amounts in uranium ore
A radioactive metal called neptunium found in uranium ores and nuclear reactors
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Neptunium is named after the planet Neptune, who in Roman stories is the god of the 'sea'. Scientists chose this name because the element comes after uranium in the list of elements, so neptunium is a radioactive metal made by scientists and known as element number 93.