Uranium is the element with the highest number of protons in the nucleus that can be found in nature. Or, at least, that it can be found in significant quantities for a considerable time.
Although it may sound strange, despite the bad reputation uranium has for its association with atomic bombs , in its “natural” state this element is more dangerous due to its toxicity than because of its radioactivity because the most abundant isotope of uranium, uranium -238, it is very stable and emits little radiation.
In fact, uranium oxide has been used since 79 BC to make glass tinted with a yellowish or greenish hue that also glows under ultraviolet light. Although it is an ancient technique, the true “boom” in the production of this type of glass came between the 1890s and 1920s.
Of course, its use today is purely ornamental because, although the glass contains only 2% uranium and most of it is trapped inside its glass structure, the use of uranium glass to store food or drink is not recommended , especially for prolonged periods.
Inside the Earth
One less well known property of uranium is its extreme density: a liter bottle filled with uranium would weigh 19.1 kilos. In comparison, the same bottle filled with water would weigh 1 kg or 70 grams if we filled it with liquid hydrogen, so that we can compare the two extremes.
Its density is the reason why there is relatively little uranium on the Earth’s surface, compared to what it contains inside: during the formation of the Earth, the densest elements it contained tended to sink little by little towards the center of the Earth. planet by the action of gravity, so that most of the uranium (along with other dense elements such as gold, iron or nickel) is locked in the depths of our planet.
In fact, it is estimated that there is so much uranium in the interior of our planet that its radioactivity is responsible for almost half of the internal heat of the Earth. This heat comes to us like pearls, because thanks to it there is a layer of molten metal around the nucleus that enables the existence of our magnetic field. And, if it weren’t for the protective action of the magnetic field, the solar wind would slowly tear away our atmosphere, leaving us exposed to the sun’s intense ultraviolet radiation. UV radiation is annoying because it burns our skin, of course, but it also has the ability to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen so that, without an atmosphere, the oceans would end up disappearing and the Earth would become a barren place … What is it? precisely what happened to Mars.
