Page 46 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book. To close the book, close the tab.

Uranium (U)
Uranium (U)
Element 92 on the periodic table. The best known radioactive element in the actinide series. Uranium is found naturally.
Uranium is a dense, hard, silvery-white metal that can easily be shaped (malleable). It was discovered in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth and named after the planet Uranus. However, it was not until 1896 that the
French physicist Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive. During the 1930s it was realised that uranium could be bombarded by slow neutrons to cause a chain reaction leading to a nuclear explosion. This is the basis of the atomic bomb.
Its main use is as a nuclear fuel. One kilogramme of uranium produces the same energy as three million kilogrammes of coal.
(See also: Actinium and Fission.) V
Valency
The number of bonds that an atom can form.
For example, calcium has a valency of two and bromine a valency of one.
 Uranium – A piece of uranium from a nuclear reactor.
Vanadium (V)
Element 23 on the periodic table. A silvery-white soft metal belonging to the transition metals.
It was discovered in 1801 by the Spanish mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río. It was named after the Scandinavian goddess
of beauty and youth, Vana. This was suggested by the range of beautiful colours that are produced by vanadium compounds.
It can be alloyed with steel to make strong drill bits.
X
Xenon (Xe)
Element 54 on the periodic table. One of the group 8 elements (noble gases).
It is a very rare, heavy gas
that is colourless, odourless and tasteless. It was discovered in 1898 by the British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers.
Xenon is unreactive. When electricity passes through it, xenon emits a bluish light.
 Vanadium – Vanadium is well known for its colourful compounds.
46