plutonium-240
Sign in to saveAlso known as Pu-240, 240Pu, Plutonium 240
Plutonium-240 (' or Pu-240') is an isotope of plutonium formed when plutonium-239 captures a neutron without undergoing fission. The detection of its spontaneous fission led to its discovery in 1944 at Los Alamos and had important consequences for the Manhattan Project.
Key facts
- Isotope.symbol
- Pu
- Isotope.image
- Plutonium-240.svg
- Isotope.mass_number
- 240
- Isotope.mass
- 240.053812
- Isotope.num_neutrons
- 146
- Isotope.num_protons
- 94
- Isotope.abundance
- Trace
- Isotope.decay_mode1
- Alpha decay
- Isotope.decay_energy1
- 5.256
- Isotope.decay_product
- Uranium-236
- Isotope.decay_symbol
- U
- Isotope.decay_mass
- 236
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 240.053811812
Show 10 more facts
- atomic number
- 94
- neutron number
- 146
- half-life
- 6561.0
- spin quantum number
- 0.0
- parity quantum number
- 1
- mass excess
- 50125.38
- binding energy
- 1813450.08
- Commons category
- Plutonium-240
- canonical SMILES
- [240Pu]
- chemical formula
- Pu
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Nuclear properties
- Nuclear weapons
- See also
- References
- External links
Plutonium-240 (' or Pu-240') is an isotope of plutonium formed when plutonium-239 captures a neutron without undergoing fission. The detection of its spontaneous fission led to its discovery in 1944 at Los Alamos and had important consequences for the Manhattan Project.
As with the other major plutonium isotopes, the normal decay leads to a more-stable isotope of uranium (236U) and in effect no further decay chain on human timescales. Over geologic time it would follow the thorium series.