plutonium-240

Directory

References

Discover

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Groups of depositors in front of the closed American Union Bank, New York City. April 26, 1932. Great Depression run on bank crowd

Causes of the Great Depression

American bison (Bison bison) also known as buffalo or plains buffalo on the prairie, western U.S.

What’s the Difference Between Bison and Buffalo?

Andrew Jackson delivering a speech while on his way to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration in 1829. From Harper's Weekly, 1881.

5 Remarkably Close U.S. Presidential Elections

Close-up of tobacco plants in Ontario, Canada. Tobacco, Nicotiana, cured leaves used after processing in various ways for smoking, snuffing, chewing, and extracting of nicotine.

7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

What’s the Difference Between Emoji and Emoticons?

Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) with its Summer coat on the left side and its winter coat on the right.

7 Animals That Turn White in Winter

plutonium-240

chemical isotope

Learn about this topic in these articles:

nuclear reactors

In nuclear reactor: Fissile and fertile materials
…directly through neutron capture in plutonium-240, following the formula ²⁴⁰Pu + ¹n = ²⁴¹Pu.
Read More

nuclear weapons

In nuclear weapon: Selecting a weapon design
…absorbed a neutron and became plutonium-240. This material underwent spontaneous fission, producing neutrons. Some neutrons would always be present in a plutonium assembly and would cause it to begin multiplying as soon as it “went critical” but before it reached supercriticality; the assembly would then explode prematurely and produce comparatively…
Read More