In News
- Physicists in Japan discovered a previously unknown isotope of uranium, with atomic number 92 and mass number 241, i.e Uranium-241 and its half-life, according to theoretical calculations, could be 40 minutes.
What is Uranium?
- Uranium is a naturally occurring chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table
- Uranium has several isotopes, which are atoms that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons like U-235 and U-238.
- It is a heavy metal that is radioactive and found in small quantities in rocks and soils worldwide.
- Atomic number = No. of Protons = No. of Electrons
- Â No. of Neutrons = Atomic mass- Atomic No.Â
Why does a new isotope matter?
- It re-defines the boundaries of models that physicists use to design nuclear power plants and models of exploding stars.
- It gives essential nuclear information to understand the synthesis of such heavy elements in explosive astronomical events.
How was uranium-241 found?
- The researchers accelerated uranium-238 nuclei into plutonium-198 nuclei at the KEK Isotope Separation System (KISS).
- In a process called multinucleon transfer, the two isotopes exchanged protons and neutrons.
- The resulting nuclear fragments contained different isotopes. This is how the researchers identified uranium-241 and measured the mass of its nucleus by using time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
What are Magic numbers?
- In nuclear physics, a magic number is a number of nucleons (either protons or neutrons, separately) such that they are arranged into complete shells within the atomic nucleus.
- Â Â As a result, atomic nuclei with a ‘magic’ number of protons or neutrons are much more stable than other nuclei
- The heaviest known ‘magic’ nucleus is lead (82 protons)
 Source: TH
