Where can i find polonium

The alpha particles it emits are so weakly penetrating it could easily have been carried in a simple sealed container, and would have to be ingested, for example in a cup of tea, to do any serious harm.

However, once inside the body, as it continued to disintegrate, it would become fatal. Polonium has a position in the periodic table that could make it a metal, a metalloid or a nonmetal. It is classed as a metal as its electrical conductivity decreases as its temperature rises. Because of this property it is used in industry to eliminate dangerous static electricity in making paper or sheet metal.

Because of its short half life, its decay generates considerable heat W per gram of metal. It can be used as a convenient and very light heat source to generate reliable thermoelectric power in space satellites and lunar stations, as no moving parts are involved. Johnny Ball lifting the lid on the radioactive element polonium discovered by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre.

Next time on Chemistry in its element we remain radioactive much like the substance itself with earth scientist Ian Farnan. Anyone familiar with the iconic image of the mushroom cloud understands the tremendous explosive power of a correctly controlled detonation of plutonium. The energy density is mind-boggling: a sphere of metal 10 cm in diameter and weighing just 8 kg is enough to produce an explosion at least as big as the one that devastated Nagasaki in Ian Farnan with what promises to be an explosive edition of Chemistry in its element next week.

I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening and see you next time. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists. There's more information and other episodes of Chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld.

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We welcome your feedback. Data W. Haynes, ed. Version 1. Coursey, D. Schwab, J. Tsai, and R. Dragoset, Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions version 4. Periodic Table of Videos , accessed December Podcasts Produced by The Naked Scientists. Download our free Periodic Table app for mobile phones and tablets.

Explore all elements. D Dysprosium Dubnium Darmstadtium. E Europium Erbium Einsteinium. F Fluorine Francium Fermium Flerovium. G Gallium Germanium Gadolinium Gold. I Iron Indium Iodine Iridium. K Krypton. O Oxygen Osmium Oganesson. U Uranium. V Vanadium. X Xenon. Y Yttrium Ytterbium. Z Zinc Zirconium. Membership Become a member Connect with others Supporting individuals Supporting organisations Manage my membership. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Discovery date. Discovered by. Origin of the name.

Polonium is named after Poland, the native country of Marie Curie, who first isolated the element. Melting point. Boiling point. Atomic number. Relative atomic mass. Key isotopes. Electron configuration. CAS number. ChemSpider ID. ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database. About Lenntech. General Delivery Conditions. Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. Atomic number. Polonium Polonium is a radioactive, extremely rare semi-metal.

Applications Polonium was once used in textile mills to eliminate static charges and by the manufacturers of photographic plates in brushes to remove the accumulated dust. Polonium in the environment Polonium is a very rare element in nature. Health effects of polonium Polonium is studied in a few nuclear research laboratories where its high radioactivity as an alpha-emitter requires special handling techniques and precautions.

Polonium has one significant drawback. If investigators are alert enough to detect it has been used, they can follow the radioactive trail it leaves on everything it has come into contact with before the killing to find and identify a suspect. This is what happened in the Litvinenko case.

Investigators found traces of polonium in the hotel room where the tea was served and followed the trail backward, matching it with Lugovoi's movements. For this reason, those using polonium count heavily on their murder weapon not being found.

But there is one thing more that assassins using polonium must be careful about. And that is to not to be killed themselves by it. It was packed very securely in a bottle and it was opened only in the small kitchen of the hotel room and then poured into the kettle," Gordievsky says.

But still, the main assassin was held [in a Moscow hospital because he was] unwell the first two weeks after the operation.

So there are signs this is really a very risky element. He was elected in to the Russian parliament on an ultranationalist ticket and is a successful businessman. Polonium is present in very small amounts in the soil and in the atmosphere but it does not naturally occur in lethal concentrations.

However, it can be manufactured in a nuclear reactor by bombarding the isotope bismuth with neutrons. The restaurant "has had to order extra deliveries and turn people away some days since news broke that a former Russian spy died of poisoning from radioactive polonium, manager Boguslaw J Sidorowicz said. Worried about loose nukes? Fear not, the "nation's nuclear weapons laboratories are developing technology to make the weapons virtually impossible to use if they fall into the wrong hands," writes the Los Angeles Times front page.

Apparently, "a nuclear bomb equipped with such safeguards could theoretically be left on the streets of Los Angeles or Manhattan and terrorists would be unable, even given months of tinkering, to detonate it. The scenario entails the weapon self destructing "without dispersing radioactivity or causing an explosion. How does that work?

The resulting sludge theoretically could be reprocessed, but only in a highly specialized chemical-processing factory. And, the thinking goes, terrorists who had access to such a factory probably wouldn't need to steal a bomb. What, that sounds like a highly unlikely plot line to a Jerry Bruckheimer movie to you?