Beirut Arab UniversityFaculty of Science

Chemistry Department

CHEM 241 – Principles of Chemistry

- Mohammad saeed khawam -

201401379

Uranium

Course Coordinator: Prof. Ghassan Younes

General introduction:

History of Uranium: Who Discovered It?

Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1734-1817) (1789)

Eugene Péligot (1811-1890) (1841)

When Klaproth first announced the discovery of this new element, he mistakenly named it Uranium. He had actually discovered an oxide of ‘Uranium’. This was unknown until 1841 when Péligot isolated the ‘Old Uranium’ to produce a pure substance of ‘New Uranium’. However, the credit for discovery still goes to Klaproth, and the element is still named Uranium. Which surprisingly enough is named after the planet Uranus.

Properties of Uranium:• Atomic Number: 92

• State at Room Temperature: Solid

• Color: Varies, mainly Silvery/Silvery-White

• Melting/Boiling Point: 1405.5K /4018K

• Density: 19.05g/cm

Uranium found naturally appears to be very similar to a simple rock you would find outside. But instead is much heavier and dangerously radioactive

Isotopes of Uranium Uranium has a 16 different isotopes, all of them being radioactive.

Generally only 3 of the isotopes are commonly talked about today.

234U, 235U, and 238U

Availability of Uranium Uranium is found in minerals such as pitchblende, uranophane,

cleveite and many others. Uranium can also be found in phosphate rock.

Uranium is naturally presented in a U3O8 form. To obtain pure uranium many different ways, the most common

way is by reducing uranium oxides with calcium, carbon, or aluminum at high temperatures.

The going price for uranium is $48.83 U.S. dollars per pound.

The Early Days of Uranium Before they realized how valuable and dangerous uranium was, it

was used as coloring agents in ceramic glass and tinting in photography.

Due to the amount of radioactivity and the need for uranium elsewhere, these are no longer uses for it.

Applications1. Military

Depleted uranium is used for armor plating, missile heads, and armor piercing casing due to its high density.

The problem is some uranium breaks down into a highly radioactive oxide dust on impact of a missile explosion. This dust like substance is very dangerous and carcinogenic.

2. Civilian The main use of uranium in the civilian sector is to fuel nuclear

power plants Uranium was also used in photographic chemicals

Picture

Martin Klaproth

Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is the most

common ore mined to extract uranium

Reactions of uranium metal