What does uranium mean?
Definitions for uranium
yʊˈreɪ ni əmura·ni·um
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word uranium.
Princeton's WordNet
uranium, U, atomic number 92noun
a heavy toxic silvery-white radioactive metallic element; occurs in many isotopes; used for nuclear fuels and nuclear weapons
Wiktionary
uraniumnoun
The element with atomic number 92 and symbol U.
Etymology: After Uranus (the planet).
Wikipedia
Uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly radioactive because all isotopes of uranium are unstable; the half-lives of its naturally occurring isotopes range between 159,200 years and 4.5 billion years. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.In nature, uranium is found as uranium-238 (99.2739–99.2752%), uranium-235 (0.7198–0.7202%), and a very small amount of uranium-234 (0.0050–0.0059%). Uranium decays slowly by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.47 billion years and that of uranium-235 is 704 million years, making them useful in dating the age of the Earth. Many contemporary uses of uranium exploit its unique nuclear properties. Uranium-235 is the only naturally occurring fissile isotope, which makes it widely used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. However, because of the tiny amounts found in nature, uranium needs to undergo enrichment so that enough uranium-235 is present. Uranium-238 is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. Another fissile isotope, uranium-233, can be produced from natural thorium and is studied for future industrial use in nuclear technology. Uranium-238 has a small probability for spontaneous fission or even induced fission with fast neutrons; uranium-235 and to a lesser degree uranium-233 have a much higher fission cross-section for slow neutrons. In sufficient concentration, these isotopes maintain a sustained nuclear chain reaction. This generates the heat in nuclear power reactors, and produces the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium (238U) is used in kinetic energy penetrators and armor plating. Uranium is used as a colorant in uranium glass, producing lemon yellow to green colors. Uranium glass fluoresces green in ultraviolet light. It was also used for tinting and shading in early photography. The 1789 discovery of uranium in the mineral pitchblende is credited to Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named the new element after the recently discovered planet Uranus. Eugène-Melchior Péligot was the first person to isolate the metal and its radioactive properties were discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. Research by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Enrico Fermi and others, such as J. Robert Oppenheimer starting in 1934 led to its use as a fuel in the nuclear power industry and in Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon used in war. An ensuing arms race during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union produced tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that used uranium metal and uranium-derived plutonium-239. The security of those weapons is closely monitored. Since around 2000, plutonium obtained by dismantling cold war era bombs is used as fuel for nuclear reactors.The development and deployment of these nuclear reactors continue on a global base. There is increasing interest in these power plants as they are powerful sources of CO2 free energy. In 2019, 440 nuclear power reactors produced 2586 TWh (billion kWh) of CO2 free electricity worldwide, more than the global installations of solar and wind power combined.
ChatGPT
uranium
Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. Known for its high density, uranium is approximately 70 percent more dense than lead and is weakly radioactive. It is highly common in the Earth's crust, making it about 40 times more common than silver. Uranium is mainly used as fuel in nuclear power plants due to its ability to produce large amounts of energy. Its isotopes, uranium-238 and uranium-235, are used for the production of nuclear weapons and in the generation of commercial electricity, respectively.
Webster Dictionary
Uraniumnoun
an element of the chromium group, found in certain rare minerals, as pitchblende, uranite, etc., and reduced as a heavy, hard, nickel-white metal which is quite permanent. Its yellow oxide is used to impart to glass a delicate greenish-yellow tint which is accompanied by a strong fluorescence, and its black oxide is used as a pigment in porcelain painting. Symbol U. Atomic weight 239.
Wikidata
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with symbol U and atomic number 92. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly radioactive because all its isotopes are unstable. The most common isotopes of uranium are uranium-238 and uranium-235. Uranium has the second highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements, lighter only than plutonium. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, but not as dense as gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. In nature, uranium is found as uranium-238, uranium-235, and a very small amount of uranium-234. Uranium decays slowly by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.47 billion years and that of uranium-235 is 704 million years, making them useful in dating the age of the Earth. Many contemporary uses of uranium exploit its unique nuclear properties. Uranium-235 has the distinction of being the only naturally occurring fissile isotope. Uranium-238 is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. Another fissile isotope, uranium-233, can be produced from natural thorium and is also important in nuclear technology. While uranium-238 has a small probability for spontaneous fission or even induced fission with fast neutrons, uranium-235 and to a lesser degree uranium-233 have a much higher fission cross-section for slow neutrons. In sufficient concentration, these isotopes maintain a sustained nuclear chain reaction. This generates the heat in nuclear power reactors, and produces the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is used in kinetic energy penetrators and armor plating.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Uranium
ū-rā′ni-um, n. a very hard but moderately malleable metal, resembling nickel or iron in its lustre and colour, but in a finely comminuted state occurring as a black powder.—adj. Urā′nic. [Gr. ouranos, heaven.]
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Uranium
Uranium. A radioactive element of the actinide series of metals. It has an atomic symbol U, atomic number 92, and atomic weight 238.03. U-235 is used as the fissionable fuel in nuclear weapons and as fuel in nuclear power reactors.
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of uranium in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of uranium in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of uranium in a Sentence
Today it became known that Great Britain, through the mouth of the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense of this country, announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine, but also shells with combined uranium.
Guthrie Police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs:
When that happens, of course, we call in a company that deals with that specifically, and it's taken safely into possession, the uranium is the wild card in that situation.
We claim that if Iran is permitted to preserve 6,000 centrifuges the breakout time is not 12 months but around nine to 10 months, even with zero (uranium) stockpiles, although we are against a deal in general, we are also focusing on specific items within this wrong deal.
For example, we need uranium enriched to 5% for use in the Bushehr (power plant) and this is a completely peaceful purpose.
Iran has agreed to refrain from producing or acquiring highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear weapons forever, when it comes to verification and monitoring, there is absolutely no sunset in this agreement. Not in 10 years, not in 15 years, not in 20 years, not in 25 years - no sunset ever.
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References
Translations for uranium
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- uraanAfrikaans
- يورانيومArabic
- уранBelarusian
- уранBulgarian
- uraniomBreton
- uraniCatalan, Valencian
- uranCzech
- uraniwmWelsh
- uranDanish
- UranGerman
- ουράνιοGreek
- uranioEsperanto
- uranioSpanish
- uraanEstonian
- uranioaBasque
- اورانیومPersian
- uraaniFinnish
- uranFaroese
- uraniumFrench
- uraniumWestern Frisian
- úráiniamIrish
- uràiniamScottish Gaelic
- uranioGalician
- કિરણાતુGujarati
- uraaniumManx
- אורניוםHebrew
- किरणातुHindi
- uránHungarian
- ուրանArmenian
- úranIcelandic
- uranioItalian
- ᓄᖑᑦᓱᐃᑦᑐᖅInuktitut
- 鈾, ウランJapanese
- ურანიGeorgian
- អ៊ុយរ៉ាញ៉ូមKhmer
- ಯುರೇನಿಯಂKannada
- 우란, 우라늄Korean
- یورانیۆمKurdish
- uranyumCornish
- uraniumLatin
- UranLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- uranasLithuanian
- urānsLatvian
- ураниумMacedonian
- уранMongolian
- uraniumMalay
- uranjumMaltese
- uranNorwegian
- uranium, uraanDutch
- uranNorwegian Nynorsk
- łéétsohNavajo, Navaho
- uranPolish
- urânioPortuguese
- uraniuRomanian
- уранRussian
- ураниј, уран, uran, uranijSerbo-Croatian
- uranSlovak
- uranSlovene
- uraniAlbanian
- uranSwedish
- uraniSwahili
- அடரியம்Tamil
- గురుత్వాకర్షణముTelugu
- уранTajik
- ยูเรเนียมThai
- uranyumTurkish
- уранUkrainian
- uran, уранUzbek
- uran, uraniVietnamese
- luraninVolapük
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