Radioactive facts about uranium

Discovery: Uranium was discovered by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1789.

Discovery: Klaproth was studying the mineral pitchblende, when after abnormal chemical reactions.

Name: Klaproth named the new element after the planet Uranus, which had been recently discovered.

Ancient: Uranium has been around for a very long time. Records of its use date back to 79 CE.

Glow: When uranium is used to color glass, it glows in the dark under black light.

Uranium's color: Pure uranium is silver, but it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air.

Pure uranium: It was not until 1841 that French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot isolated pure uranium. 

Radioactivity: In 1896, French physicist Antoine H. Becquerel found that uranium was radioactive.

Radioactivity: Famed Polish scientist Marie Curie coined the term “radioactivity” following Becquerel's discovery.

Where did it come from: It’s believed that uranium was formed in a supernova about 6.6 billion years ago and made its way to Earth.

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