PTL:Polonium

From ChemEd Collaborative

Polonium is a metal in Group VIA (Group 16) and the 6th period. Other elements in the group are oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te).

Discovered

Marie Curie isolated the element in 1898 only after processing a huge quantity of uranium ore.

Name

The element is named after her native country, Poland.

Characteristics

Polonium--210, which can be made synthetically in milligram quantities, is a low-melting, fairly volatile metal. It is an alpha emitter with a half-life of 139 days. Alpha emission is so intense that a blue glow from ionized air surrounds the container.

Uses

It has been suggested that Polonium could be used as a heat source in thermoelectric power in space applications

Because almost all of the alpha emission is absorbed by the sample and its container, they become very warm. This had led to suggestions that ²¹⁰Po be used as the heat source for [thermoelectric power] in space applications.

Isotopes

Polonium has no stable isotopes; all are radioactive. It is also exceedingly rare. Uranium ores contain only about 100 micrograms per ton.

Emission Spectra

This is the emission spectra for Polonium.