Q 01/05

What is plutonium's chemical symbol?

A) Pt

B) Pu

C) Pl

D) Pn

Answer · why

B) Pu

Glenn Seaborg reportedly chose the letters as a joke on the interjection 'P U' for a bad smell.

Q 02/05

What is plutonium's atomic number?

A) 88

B) 92

C) 96

D) 94

Answer · why

D) 94

It is the element with the highest atomic number known to occur in nature.

Q 03/05

Plutonium was named after which body, which was considered a planet at the time?

A) Neptune

B) Uranus

C) Ceres

D) Pluto

Answer · why

D) Pluto

Uranium and neptunium had been named after the two preceding planets.

Q 04/05

Where was plutonium first synthesised, in 1940-41?

A) Berkeley, California

B) Chicago, Illinois

C) New York City

D) Princeton, New Jersey

Answer · why

A) Berkeley, California

The University of California team bombarded uranium-238 with deuterons in the 60-inch cyclotron.

Q 05/05

Which chemist led the team that first produced and identified plutonium?

A) Glenn T. Seaborg

B) Otto Hahn

C) Enrico Fermi

D) Ernest Lawrence

Answer · why

A) Glenn T. Seaborg

McMillan, Segrè, Kennedy and Wahl were the other members.