SCIENCE
Lightest known form of uranium created
Words by Mara Johnson-Groh
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The new isotope has a very short half-life – just half a millisecond
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“Because neutrons have mass, uranium-214 is much lighter than common isotopes”
Scientists have discovered a new type of uranium – the lightest ever known.The discovery could reveal more about a weird alpha particle that gets ejected from certain radioactive elements as they decay. The newfound uranium, called uranium-214, is an isotope –a variant of the element – with 30 more neutrons than protons, one fewer neutron than the next lightest known uranium isotope. Because neutrons have mass, uranium-214 is much lighter than more common uranium isotopes, including uranium-235, which is used in nuclear reactors and has 21 extra neutrons.