It's time for another element in this series, this time taking a look at plutonium. The last two elements discussed on this blog were uranium and neptunium, the two elements just before plutonium on the periodic table. Plutonium is the 94th element on the periodic table, meaning it has 94 protons. That's a lot of protons! Similar to neptunium, plutonium is not produced naturally in the Universe. It is produced in a lab on Earth, beginning in 1940.
What is plutonium used for? Well, it's not an element you just keep in your house, that's for sure. Plutonium is used in nuclear weapons (yikes!) as well as a fuel for many spacecraft that have been launched from Earth.
Since there are no more planets in the Solar System (Pluto isn't a planet either) the 95th element on the periodic table does not follow the naming trend of uranium (Uranus), neptunium (Neptune), and Pluto (plutonium). The 95th element is americium, named after the Americas. If dwarf planets were known at the time americium was named, it might have been called erocium (after Eros), or cerecium (after Ceres). Oh well.
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