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Is thorium a transition metal?

Is thorium a transition metal?

The period 7 inner transition metals (actinides) are thorium (Th), protactinium (Pa), uranium (U), neptunium (Np), plutonium (Pu), americium (Am), curium (Cm), berkelium (Bk), californium (Cf), einsteinium (Es), fermium (Fm), mendelevium (Md), nobelium (No), and lawrencium (Lr).

What compounds are made from thorium?

All five chemically characterised pnictogens (nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth) also form compounds with thorium. Three thorium nitrides are known: ThN, Th3N4, and Th2N3. The brass-coloured Th3N4 is most easily produced by heating thorium metal in a nitrogen atmosphere.

What is thorium compound?

Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft, malleable, and has a high melting point.

Does the human body use thorium?

More than 2.5 million people worldwide were exposed to thorium in Thorotrast between 1930 and 1950. Once injected, Thorotrast remains in the body, resulting in lifelong exposure to thorium. Although thorium is widespread in the environment, most people are not exposed to dangerous levels of the metal.

Why do we not use thorium?

Thorium cannot in itself power a reactor; unlike natural uranium, it does not contain enough fissile material to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. As a result it must first be bombarded with neutrons to produce the highly radioactive isotope uranium-233 – ‘so these are really U-233 reactors,’ says Karamoskos.

How is thorium a d transition metal or an actinide?

The reaction of various actinide and transition metal bisalkyl complexes with pyridine N -oxide has been investigated at the DFT level for M = Zr, Th, and U. Rather than the expected oxygen transfer reaction, an ortho C−H activation is observed experimentally for Th and U and is explained theoretically.

What kind of compounds can be produced with thorium?

All five chemically characterised pnictogens (nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth) also form compounds with thorium. Three thorium nitrides are known: ThN, Th 3 N 4, and Th 2 N 3. The brass-coloured Th 3 N 4 is most easily produced by heating thorium metal in a nitrogen atmosphere.

What is the susceptibility of a thorium compound?

In thorium compounds the very small filling of the 5f states cannot give rise to 5f magnetic moments, and compounds are typically Pauli paramagnets with a susceptibility χ0 of the order of 10 −9 –10 −8 m 3 /mol for intermetallic compounds, where its value reflects the density of states at EF. The ground state is frequently superconducting.

How is thorium a reactive and electropositive metal?

Thorium is a highly reactive and electropositive metal. At standard temperature and pressure, it is slowly attacked by water, but does not readily dissolve in most common acids, with the exception of hydrochloric acid.