uranium 238

noun

: an isotope of uranium of mass number 238 that is the most stable uranium isotope, that constitutes over 99 percent of natural uranium, that is not fissile but can be used to produce a fissile isotope of plutonium, and that has a half-life of 4.5 billion years

Examples of uranium 238 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Elements like uranium 238, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, let geologists determine the age of rocks and meteorites; those that decay over thousands of years, like carbon-14, help date archaeological artifacts and human remains. —Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 13 July 2012

Most of the rest of our planet’s inner warmth now comes from the radionuclides thorium 232 and uranium 238. —Marcus Woo, Scientific American, 17 Nov. 2020

The centrifuges are used to separate the rare, highly radioactive isotope, uranium 235, from the less radioactive type, uranium 238. —BostonGlobe.com, 5 Nov. 2019

The centrifuges are used to separate the rare, highly radioactive isotope, uranium 235, from uranium 238. —David E. Sanger, New York Times, 4 Nov. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

uranium 238

noun

: the most stable form of uranium that has an atomic mass number of 238, breaks down in a series of nuclear changes into a form of lead, and can absorb neutrons and then go through a series of nuclear transformations to change into a form of plutonium