Summers ,Williams 1

Nick Summers, Tyler Williams

Mr. Schindler

Period 6

1 February 2016

The Actinides

The element family Actinides consists of elements 89-103 on the Periodic

Table. Elements 89-103 are radioactive metals. There are fourteen Actinides though

this report will be describing the first six. The first six elements are Thorium (Th),

Protactinium (Pa), Uranium (U), Neptunium (Np), Plutonium (Pu), and Americium

(Am).

Thorium (Th) has two valence electrons. At room temperature Thorium is a

solid. Thorium is used in high-end optics, scientific instrumentation, and is being

considered to replace Uranium as a nuclear fuel. Protactinium (Pa) has two valence

electrons. Protactinium is a solid at room temperature. The only use for Protactinium

is that it is used in basic scientific research. There are two valence electrons in the

element Uranium (U). When at room temperature Uranium is a solid. Uranium is

used as a nuclear fuel and as a target for X-ray production. The element Neptunium

(Np) has two valence electrons. Neptunium is a solid at room temperature.

Neptunium is used in neutron detectors. Plutonium has two valence electrons. At

room temperature Plutonium is a solid. Plutonium is being used in nuclear weapons

as well as nuclear reactors. Americium (Am) has two valence electrons. It is a solid
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at room temperature. Americium is used in smoke detectors and as portable source

of gamma rays.

The average melting point of all the Actinides is 1,232.329 oC and their

average density is 14.591 g/cm3. The Lanthanides average melting point of 1,180 C

and their average density of 7.688 g/cm3. Compared to the Lanthanides the

Actinides have a higher melting point by 52.329 oC and a higher density by 6.903

g/cm3. When the Actinides are exposed to oxygen they usually oxidize or tarnish.

Oxidation is what happens to iron when it rusts and tarnishing is a discoloration.

Neptunium was created by Edwin M. McMillian and Philip H. Abelson. They

were working at University of California, Berkeley. McMillian and Abelson created

neptunium-239. The Actinides are the bottom most elements on the Periodic Table

and can be easily over looked but that doesnt mean they are less important than

any of the other elements.

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Works Cited

"General Properties and Reactions of The Actinides." - Chemwiki. 2015. Web.

01 Feb. 2016.

"Lanthanides and Actinides - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Web. 01

Feb. 2016.

"The Periodic Table of Elements." It's Elemental -. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.