Uranium-214 Element discovered
Recently, Chinese scientists have discovered a new type of Uranium.
Key Points:
- It is the lightest uranium ever. This discovery may help scientists learn more about alpha particles, which decay and are differ from some radioactive elements.
- This uranium, called ‘Uranium-214’ discovered by scientists, has 30 neutrons more than protons.
- Thus it has one less neutron than the lightest Uranium variant / isotope known so far. Since neutrons have mass, thus Uranium-214 is much lighter than all other Uranium versions, such as Uranium-235.
Use of Uranium
- Uranium-235 is used in nuclear reactors, and contains 51 additional neutrons compared to protons.
- This new isotope is not only significantly lighter, but also exhibits unique behavior during its decay. Thus this discovery will help scientists understand the radioactive decay process, known as alpha decay, in which a group of two protons and two neutrons in a nuclear nucleus decays.
- It is known that two protons and two neutrons are collectively called an alpha particle.
Source – The Hindu
