Plutonium

Notable characteristics

Plutonium is silvery in pure form, but has a yellow tarnish when oxidized.

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Peculiarly, the metal goes through phases of contraction as its temperature is increased.

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The heat given off by alpha particle emission makes plutonium warm to the touch in reasonable quantities; larger amounts can boil water. It displays four ionic oxidation states in aqueous solution:

Related Topics:
Alpha particle emission - Oxidation state

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• Pu³⁺ (blue lavender)
• Pu⁴⁺ (yellow brown)
• PuO²⁺ (pink orange)
• PuO⁺ (thought to be pink; this ion is unstable in solution and will disproportionate into Pu⁴⁺ and PuO²⁺; the Pu⁴⁺ will then oxidize the remaining PuO⁺ to PuO²⁺, being reduced in turn to Pu³⁺. Thus, aqueous solutions of plutonium tend over time towards a mixture of Pu³⁺ and PuO²⁺.)