A Visual Encyclopedia of the Periodic Table

174

The Oxygen Group

Polonium

Po

84

Forms

Uses

84 84 125

State: Solid

Discovery: 1898

This mineral

contains uranium

atoms that break

apart to form

atoms of polonium.

This robotic lunar buggy

was kept warm on the Moon’s

surface by the heat produced

by the polonium inside it.

Polonium is very radioactive: 1 g (0.03 oz)

of this metal quickly heats up to 500°C

(932°F) because of the radiation it emits.

This element was discovered by Marie and

Pierre Curie in 1898. Marie named it after

Poland, her homeland. It is rare in nature,

and is normally produced in nuclear reactors.

Despite its radioactivity, this element is used

in a few ways. It can trigger the explosion of

atom bombs. It heats and powers spacecraft,

such as the Russian Lunokhod rovers, which

landed on the Moon in the 1970s.

This bomb can be

detonated when the

polonium inside it ignites.

Atom bomb

Anti-static

brush

This brush is used to

remove static electric

charge from camera

lenses and music records.

L

u

n

o

k

ho

d

r

o

ve

r

This

uranium ore

contains

0.0000001

per cent

polonium.

Ur

an

in

it

e

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