# 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:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**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, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/21 "1999-11-08T19:43:00Z")
Ack. Never mind about the links. Roach’s is quite definitive. ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/22 "1999-11-09T01:10:00Z")
**D’oh!** You’re absolutely right, of course, Roachman; the _biological_ half-life of plutonium is shorter than the _radioactive_ half-life. Somehow, I managed to not only write that backwards, and proofread it backwards (so to speak), but to read your comments _and_ my post and wonder to myself, “I don’t see the point; didn’t I say that?” (answer: no). I’m not sure if I should go have a drink, or lay off the stuff for a month. * * * “Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.” ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/23 "2000-08-27T00:13:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Roachman \* > \*\*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).\*\* But since it bonds to the bones once injested, it sticks around a long time. Since a holdable sample of Pu is warm to the touch just from its radiation, I wouldn’t want to be carrying that around in my innards. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/24 "2000-08-28T21:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boris B \* > \*\*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 \*\* What a surprise, whoever scanned these pictures must have gotten them from the book. I got the book when I was about 12, in 1970, and out of fond attachment I still have it. I value it now for the quaintness of its illustrations and examples. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592/25 "2000-08-28T21:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Boris B \* > > \*\*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 \*\* > > What a surprise, whoever scanned these pictures must have gotten them from the book. I got the book when I was about > 12, in 1970, and out of fond attachment I still have it. I value it now for the quaintness of its illustrations and > examples. \*\* Re the Time Life “Matter” book remember the picture of the yowling kitten atop the blazing bunsen burner separated only by the small square of ablating fire-resistant plastic. It was a classic picture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-plutonium-look-like/4592.md?page=1)