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Compare Uranium vs Plutonium

Comparing Uranium (U) and Plutonium (Pu). Atomic numbers 92 and 94 with atomic masses 238.029 u and 244 u, classified as actinide and actinide. Below: a side-by-side comparison of their physical, atomic, electron-configuration and historical properties, including density, melting and boiling points, ionization energies, oxidation states and discovery history.

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Periodic properties of the elements

UraniumPlutonium
SymbolUPu
Atomic number9294
Group00
Period77
Blockff
Element categoryActinideActinide

Physical properties

UraniumPlutonium
Phase at STPSolidSolid
Density19.1 g/cm319.816 g/cm3
Atomic weight238.029 u244 u
Melting point1405.3 K
1132.15 °C
2069.87 °F
912.5 K
639.35 °C
1182.83 °F
Boiling point4404 K
4130.85 °C
7467.53 °F
3505 K
3231.85 °C
5849.33 °F

Atomic properties

UraniumPlutonium
Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)1.381.28
Electron affinity50.94 kJ/mol-48.33 kJ/mol
Oxidation states+1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6
(an amphoteric oxide)
+2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7, +8
(an amphoteric oxide)
Ionization energies
  1. 597.6 kJ/mol
  2. 1420 kJ/mol
  3. 1900 kJ/mol
  4. 3145 kJ/mol
  1. 584.7 kJ/mol
  2. 1128 kJ/mol
  3. 2084 kJ/mol
  4. 3338 kJ/mol

Electron configuration

UraniumPlutonium
Shorthand configuration[Rn] 5f3 6d1 7s2 [Rn] 5f6 7s2
Full configuration1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f3 6s2 6p6 6d1 7s2 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f6 6s2 6p6 7s2
Electrons per shell2, 8, 18, 32, 21, 9, 22, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2

History

UraniumPlutonium
DiscoveryMartin Heinrich Klaproth (1789)Glenn T. Seaborg, Arthur Wahl, Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin McMillan (1940)
First isolationEugène-Melchior Péligot (1841)