What are the characteristics of thorium?
Characteristics: Thorium is a radioactive, bright, soft, silvery-white metal, which tarnishes extremely slowly (over many months) to the black oxide. The most stable isotope is thorium-232, with a half-life of 14.05 billion years.
What are the uses of thorium?
Applications of Thorium
- As thorium is radioactive, its uses mainly lie in nuclear fuel applications.
- It is helpful in radiometric dating.
- Used as an alloying element in magnesium, to coat tungsten wire in electrical equipment.
- Used in manufacturing of lenses for cameras and scientific instruments.
What are 3 uses for thorium?
Thorium is also used to strengthen magnesium, coating tungsten wire in electrical equipment, controlling the grain size of tungsten in electric lamps, high-temperature crucibles, in glasses, in camera and scientific instrument lenses, and is a source of nuclear power, according to Los Alamos.
What are 5 properties thorium?
Thorium is a silvery white, soft, metal, somewhat similar to lead . It can be hammered, rolled, bent, cut, shaped, and welded rather easily. Its general physical properties are somewhat similar to those of lead. It has a melting point of about 1,800°C (3,300°F) and a boiling point of about 4,500°C (8,100°F).
How is thorium 229 used?
Thorium-229 is one of the most stable radioactive isotopes of thorium. It is currently used in cancer research.
Does the human body use thorium?
More than 2.5 million people worldwide were exposed to thorium in Thorotrast between 1930 and 1950. Once injected, Thorotrast remains in the body, resulting in lifelong exposure to thorium. Although thorium is widespread in the environment, most people are not exposed to dangerous levels of the metal.
What color is thorium?
Thorium (Th), radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, atomic number 90; it is a useful nuclear reactor fuel. Thorium was discovered (1828) by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius. It is silvery white but turns gray or black on exposure to air.
Why is it called thorium?
In 1815, for example, Berzelius isolated a new element from a mineral sent to him from the Swedish mining town of Falun and named it thorium after the Scandinavian god of thunder, Thor.
Is thorium a solid?
Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90….
| Thorium | |
|---|---|
| Phase at STP | solid |
| Melting point | 2023 K (1750 °C, 3182 °F) |
| Boiling point | 5061 K (4788 °C, 8650 °F) |
| Density (near r.t. ) | 11.7 g/cm3 |
Is thorium soluble in water?
Thorium is slowly attacked by water, but does not dissolve readily in most common acids, except hydrochloric.