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Not done: Seaborg and Perlman found plutonium in nature in 1942, but it was synthesized in 1941, which I suspect is why Perlman isn't generally listed as a discoverer. PianoDan (talk) 17:03, 15 November 2024 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 6 months ago3 comments2 people in discussion
Plutonium's empirical atomic radius is often listed as 175 pm, but on this article, it is 159 pm. Which is strange, since I swear it was previously 158 pm. Where are the measurements coming from? Why are there never sources linked to empirical atomic radii? GracefulFern3145 (talk) 19:00, 6 March 2026 (UTC)Reply
The empirical atomic radius listed for plutonium on the article is 175 pm, so where is 158/159 pm coming from? Also, the source for that claim is from 1964. Aren't old sources not recommended? It's probably the only one of its kind, but it is still from 1964. GracefulFern3145 (talk) 15:49, 10 March 2026 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 13 days ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Cyclotron-accelerated 12MeV deuterons struck beryllium to produce neutrons that reacted with natural uranium (which is mostly uranium-238). Look in JACS Volume 71, Issue 5 of May 01 1949. ~2026-48839-09 (talk) 00:30, 9 September 2026 (UTC)Reply
I suppose you are pointing to the source
B. B. Cunningham, L. B. Werner; The First Isolation of Plutonium. Journal American Chemical Society 1 May 1949; 71 (5): 1521–1528. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01173a001
That paper (AFAICT) described the chemical separation of Pu-239 from an early, low-yield process based on cyclotrons, Be targets, and Uranium, The paper states: At the time that most of the work described in this paper was done it had not yet been shown that a self-sustaining nuclear reaction, leading to the production of substantial amounts of Pu 239 could be achieved. The reaction in the article is the self-sustaining nuclear reaction, which was the primary way Pu-239 was produced.
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Not done: Seaborg and Perlman found plutonium in nature in 1942, but it was synthesized in 1941, which I suspect is why Perlman isn't generally listed as a discoverer. PianoDan (talk) 17:03, 15 November 2024 (UTC)