Just curious what side affects of mixing uranium & Lithium together what would this cause????????
2007-04-23 19:55:56 · 5 answers · asked by daguy303 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Not much would happen. And depending on what uranium isotope and what lithium concentration are present, perhaps less than little.
If you have a high concentration of U235, which undergoes spontaneous fission, there would be a steady release of neutrons.
When lithium nucleus get bombarded by neutrons, they break down into tritium, which is a mildly radioactive form of hydrogen.
Now, given that your question is in chemistry, perhaps you want to approach that from this angle.
Lithium is highly reactive, it would spontaneously combust in the presence of oxygen, it will even react with nitrogen. But to do so would require some high concentration and access to air. There are aliminium-lithium alloys that were developed for aerospace usage, and those are stable in presence of air, so indeed the concentration of lithium is factor,.
At the other end of the spectrum, uranium is pyrophoric, i.e. it will spontaneously ignite in the presence of air -- but for do this, it would have to be in the form of a powder. So, if you were to mix lithium (powder) with uranium (powdered also, what the heck) in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere like argon, and then expose it to air, you`d have a big flame. And the fumes would be toxic.
2007-04-23 20:22:12 · answer #1 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Side effects ??? Chemical elements and atoms are not bothered with radiation.
2007-04-23 20:12:28 · answer #2 · answered by ag_iitkgp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since they are both metals you would get an alloy. There are no chemical effects.
2007-04-23 20:04:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would create nuclear weapons, I am sure you already knew the answer to that.
2007-04-23 20:02:06 · answer #4 · answered by swttxsgrl23 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What????
Side effect on which aspect?
2007-04-23 20:00:59 · answer #5 · answered by s0u1 reaver 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋