uranium
a white, lustrous, radioactive, metallic element, occurring in pitchblende, and having compounds that are used in photography and in coloring glass. The 235 isotope is used in atomic and hydrogen bombs and as a fuel in nuclear reactors. Symbol: U; atomic weight: 238.03; atomic number: 92; specific gravity: 19.07.
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Origin of uranium
1Words Nearby uranium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use uranium in a sentence
Also, large amounts of uranium would have required the presence of lots of neutrons.
New Type of Stellar Explosion Could Explain the Mystery of the Milky Way’s Elements | Gary Da Costa | July 8, 2021 | Singularity HubViolent explosions of massive, magnetized stars may forge most of the universe’s heavy elements, such as silver and uranium.
Souped-up supernovas may produce much of the universe’s heavy elements | Mara Johnson-Groh | July 7, 2021 | Science NewsAfter blasting uranium with neutrons, Fermi and colleagues reported evidence of success.
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics | Emily Conover | April 8, 2021 | Science NewsAmong the provocative moves, Iran began enriching uranium at levels beyond caps outlined in the accord.
The US and Iran have their first real chance to revive the nuclear deal | Alex Ward | April 2, 2021 | VoxThe researchers’ uranium snowflake proposal is an entirely new mechanism that might explain a small fraction of type 1a supernovas, without the need for another star.
Uranium ‘snowflakes’ could set off thermonuclear explosions of dead stars | Emily Conover | March 30, 2021 | Science News
Importantly, as part of the interim plan, Iran has diluted or converted its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium.
And that conglomerate also owns nearly 70 percent of the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia.
Since then, all dividend payments have been frozen and Iran receives “no uranium or revenue from the mine.”
A drawing of what was deemed a “deer pig” was also sent through the uranium decay ringer.
He referred to this risky state of affairs as “the babushka-with-uranium-in-the-chicken-shed” problem.
Fired From Los Alamos for Pushing Obama's Nuclear Agenda | Center for Public Integrity | July 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt's not controllable enough and uranium isn't something we could carry by the ton.
Islands of Space | John W CampbellBut the osmium and uranium alloyed with it are something else.
The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke GallunRadium was discovered in 1898 by M. and Madame Curie and M. Bmont, while experimenting with the uranium mineral pitchblende.
Invention | Bradley A. FiskeFrom the steel-like ground they scooped a dozen tons of the dirty black uranium ore and sent it hurtling back to the Bertha.
Feline Red | Robert SampsonThey flew about a huge stack of lead containers—uranium cells secured for the long trip home.
Feline Red | Robert Sampson
British Dictionary definitions for uranium
/ (jʊˈreɪnɪəm) /
a radioactive silvery-white metallic element of the actinide series. It occurs in several minerals including pitchblende, carnotite, and autunite and is used chiefly as a source of nuclear energy by fission of the radioisotope uranium-235 . Symbol: U; atomic no: 92; atomic wt: 238.0289; half-life of most stable isotope, 238 U: 451 × 10 9 years; valency: 2-6; relative density: 18.95 (approx.); melting pt: 1135°C; boiling pt: 4134°C
Origin of uranium
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for uranium
[ yu-rā′nē-əm ]
A heavy, silvery-white, highly toxic, radioactive metallic element of the actinide series. It has 14 known isotopes, of which U 238 is the most naturally abundant, occurring in several minerals. Fissionable isotopes, especially U 235, are used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Atomic number 92; atomic weight 238.03; melting point 1,132°C; boiling point 3,818°C; specific gravity 18.95; valence 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. See Periodic Table.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for uranium
A chemical element that is naturally radioactive. An isotope of uranium, uranium 235, is the main fuel for nuclear reactors and atomic bombs (see also atomic bomb). Its symbol is U. (See fission and chain reaction.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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