# What does Plutonium look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 1999, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592 "1999-11-05T06:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chef\_roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/67e7ee/32.png) [@chef\_roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chef_roger)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/1 "1999-11-05T06:33:00Z")
An ordinary metallic rock (such as lead)? I once knew a guy who said he thought he saw some in physics lab and it looked like table salt, but I doubt that Plutonium is really what he saw. Anybody have a link to a picture of it? ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/2 "1999-11-05T07:20:00Z")
I don’t think anybody saw any plutonium in physics lab. It’s extremely poisonous. Although I suppose he could have been looking through the window of some special storage container… If I remember correctly, plutonium looks like silver, more or less. I don’t remember if it has a special crystalline shape, though. Anyway, I saw a big photographic periodic table, and most of the metals were shiny and colorless, the only exceptions I remember being gold and copper. * * * Nothing I write about any person or group should be applied to a larger group. - Boris Badenov ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/3 "1999-11-05T07:42:00Z")
Hey, look what I found! [http://nobel.scas.bcit.bc.ca/resource/ptable/ptblegif/pu.gif](http://nobel.scas.bcit.bc.ca/resource/ptable/ptblegif/pu.gif) Ooh, my first image on a SDMB page. I hope it worked! It’s from this rad website: [http://nobel.scas.bcit.bc.ca/resource/ptable/pu.htm](http://nobel.scas.bcit.bc.ca/resource/ptable/pu.htm) * * * Nothing I write about any person or group should be applied to a larger group. - Boris Badenov ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/4 "1999-11-05T07:45:00Z")
Yay! It really doesn’t look colorless, though. I think gold and copper are gonna be made about Mickey Mouse’s dog’s element muscling in on their territory. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/5 "1999-11-05T08:03:00Z")
Who said that image was of _ **pure** _ plutonium? I’ll bet it’s silver when it’s pure. Ray ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/6 "1999-11-05T08:16:00Z")
Hey, I’d never thought of that. Actually I just re-read the page, and it says that it is silver when pure, only it gets coated with a yellowish oxide after exposure to air. So I guess gold and copper get to keep their club nice and small. Funny thing is, I’d kind of thought they would have the stuff in some kind of super-duper everything-proof storage device, which would keep it from undergoing any chemical reactions, and allow for photos of pure plutonium. I hope it’s not just sitting on a shelf next to the bunsen burners. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/7 "1999-11-05T12:28:00Z")
More info than you probably wanted on [Plutonium](http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/94.html). ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/8 "1999-11-05T16:23:00Z")
Judging from the name, I would say it is an off golden color, with black markings… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/9 "1999-11-05T16:41:00Z")
I’ve seen pictures of plutonium, and it just looks like an anonymous silvery metal. Your friend who claimed it looks like table salt probably saw a plutonium compound. My question is, what does neptunium look like? * * * God is dead. -Nietzsche Nietzsche is dead. -God Neitzsche is God. -Dead ---
**Author:** ![MarkSerlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@MarkSerlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkSerlin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/10 "1999-11-05T16:53:00Z")
I don’t know. I choose to remain a considerable distance from any stores of the stuff, like 1000 miles or so and up wind. * * * Mark “Think of it as Evolution in action.” ---
**Author:** ![Waneman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/71e660/32.png) [@Waneman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waneman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/11 "1999-11-05T21:13:00Z")
I took the liberty to colorize the above image for it to be best represented. \
\\ Okay, so I had a little time on my hands today! ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/12 "1999-11-05T23:11:00Z")
From the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 60th Edition (1980): Thorium is a silvery-white metal… Protactinium has a bright metallic luster… Uranium is a heavy, silvery-white metal… Neptunium metal has a silvery appearance… Plutonium … metal has a silvery appearance… americium metal is whiter and more silvery than plutonium or neptunium… Curium is silver in color… Berkelium … is expected to be a silvery metal… As of 1980, no one had ever made enough of the elemental forms of Bk and higher elements to know exactly what they looked like. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/13 "1999-11-05T23:15:00Z")
**Waneman** “took the liberty to colorize the above image for it to be best represented.” Not bad, but can you transmute base metal into gold? ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/14 "1999-11-06T00:03:00Z")
Not only an alchemist - he got the image centered on my screen. That’s a first. ---
**Author:** ![KeithB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@KeithB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithB)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/15 "1999-11-06T00:21:00Z")
It should be pointed out that plutonium is not all that poisonous, provided you do not inhale a _very_ tiny particle. If you eat it, or get it on your skin, it should do no damage. (Of course, I am not going to volunteer to try!) Some toxins and nerve gasses can be considered more dangerous since they have many more vectors to cause problems (skin absorption, inhalation…), and tiny amounts can kill you much more quickly. Maybe it would be a good question for Cecil: What is the most toxic substance? ---
**Author:** ![Kakkerlak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@Kakkerlak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kakkerlak)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/16 "1999-11-06T03:18:00Z")
I gotta guess that KeithB is kidding around… Pu is about the most toxic thing you can think about. It’s not a neurotoxin or lung irritant so it won’t kill in a hurry, but small quantities can do so much damage to your marrow, liver, and blood that it’s not a lot of consolation that you survived Day 1. My recollection of DOE lab first-aid rules said that tourniquet and high amputation really weren’t overreaction to bloodstream exposure to plutonium dust. Never been done, but they think about it. It’s exothermically reactive with a water, but a lot less so than K or Na. The problem with Pu is that all of its reaction products give you grief too. Wouldn’t want that in my eye. One last word for our Japanese friends (and the guys at Hanford): It’s called critical mass, not critical concentration ! ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/17 "1999-11-06T13:29:00Z")
Boris said: > [@](#): > > only it gets coated with a yellowish oxide after exposure to air I’ve often wondered if the more radioactive elements “rusted”. Thanks for the info! BTW–is there any practical use for this oxidation? -David ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 1999, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/18 "1999-11-07T06:31:00Z")
I believe that Roachman may have been misinformed. Plutonium is, of course, a heavy metal, and like other heavy metals, such as lead, is preferentially deposited in the bones and in the liver (about 90% of Pu will end of in one of these two areas). However, its radiological hazard is relatively low. This is in part because the radioactive half-life is much shorter than the biological half-life (20 years in the liver, 50 years in the skeleton). A dose that gives 50 rem to a critical organ (50 rem is estimated to produce an increased chance of cancer of10[sup]-4[/sup]) would be about 0.29 µg – more than is likely to be inhaled or ingested. At the same time, this same amount of botulin toxin is flirting with the LD[sub]50[/sub] (Berkowitz, B.J., et al., 1972. _Superviolence: The Civil Threat of Mass Destruction Weapons._ Santa Barbara, CA: ADCON (Advanced Concepts Research) Corporation, Report A72-034-10, 29 September.). * * * “Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.” ---
**Author:** ![Kakkerlak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@Kakkerlak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kakkerlak)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/19 "1999-11-09T06:24:00Z")
I may not remember everything from reactor engineering class, but I do remember the half-life of Pu239; it’s 24110 years. The Pu238 like they use in the Cassini batteries has a half-life of 87 years. I guess they were messing with our impressionable little heads; the chemical toxicity of Pu turns out to be not much worse than lead. I still wouldn’t sprinkle it on my donuts (though one scientist bet Ralph Nader he’d eat more Pu than Nader would take of caffeine). Here’s a link which calms me down some whenever I’m near the Tri-Cities: [http://www.llnl.gov/csts/publications/sutcliffe/](http://www.llnl.gov/csts/publications/sutcliffe/) Sorry about the thread misdirection. How’d we go from “what’s it look like” to “what’s it taste like?”. ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/20 "1999-11-08T19:38:00Z")
Don’t feel bad, Roach - I too was under the mistaken assumption plutonium was extremely toxic. Akat, do you have any links we can peruse for more info on this specific? What was all that fuss with Karen Silkwood? Didn’t she die from ingesting plutonium? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592.md?page=2)