uranium 235

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. the radioactive uranium isotope having a mass number of 235, comprising 0.715 percent of natural uranium. When bombarded with neutrons it undergoes fission with the release of energy.

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Etymology

Origin of uranium 235

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

When a neutron traveling at just the right speed strikes the nucleus of a uranium 235 atom, it is absorbed and the atom becomes even more unstable.

From Literature

This is especially true if your fission system relies on highly enriched uranium—that is, uranium composed of 20 percent or more of the fissile isotope uranium 235.

From Scientific American

The Iranian images of the plant released last year show the assembly of the centrifuges — tall, thin machines that enrich, or concentrate, uranium’s rare component, uranium 235.

From Seattle Times

The deal allows research, which now has improved their breakout time down to a day or two, by means of rapid centrifuge enrichment of uranium 235.

From New York Times

By December 6, the spectrographers had accumulated their first measurable, if invisible, quantity of uranium 235—far from pure but at more than triple the concentration found in nature.

From Literature