Protactinium - Periodic Table of Videos

Here's a new video about Protactinium, number 91 on the periodic table!
Videos on all 118 elements: bit.ly/118elements
Eric Scerri's book (UK): bit.ly/SevenScerriUK
And (US): bit.ly/SevenScerriUS
(*)
Isotope 238 has half life 6.8 hrs
Isotope 238m has half life 1.17 mins
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From the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham: bit.ly/NottChem
Periodic Videos films are by video journalist Brady Haran: www.bradyharan.com/
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[@DanDart]

I always love when the Prof says "...I have no idea."

[@gorillaau]

There is nothing wrong with admitting what you don't know. As such there is always a chance that you can find out. :-)

[@DanDart]

Yes, but I mean the way he says it. Abruptly and comically xD

[@Kizron_Kizronson]

He says it abruptly as a cover for what is going through his head, which is possibly something like "I don't know you dipstick, I am a chemist not a failed businessman. This science fro's power only works for science type questions."

[@netsky3]

Is an extremely rare element.

[@lohphat]

Note how the modern printed periodic table referenced at 5:15 has the old spelling of "Protoactinium".

[@SlideRulePirate]

So "Protoactinium" decayed into "Protactinium" by emission of an "O" particle.

[@brennanherring9059]

@@user-li2fz4ri8f And "actinium" decayed into "tin" by emission of an "acium" particle.

[@aparnavellala624]

@@user-li2fz4ri8f If directly,"protoactinium" must have decayed into actinium by "proto" emission

[@medexamtoolsdotcom]

No silly, it decayed by emission of a toe particle.

[@aparnavellala624]

In fact it does so by alpha emission

[@gabriel_martz1470]

51Ti 22 29 50.946615(1) DECAY 5.76(1) min β− 51V 51V 23 28 50.9439595(11) Stable

[@MattSiegel]

procrastinium brought me here. half life 3.5 mins :)

[@totallydreamxd5077]

7 minutes+

[@1503nemanja]

I don't know about you guys but no I love saying Protactinium, it rolls off the tongue so nicely and it sounds like some imaginary, super-high tech material.

[@sliceofgarlicbread6868]

I agree. By the way, protactinium (Pa) is sort of a high-tech material.

[@doncarlo5]

or rather more like a prostata malfunction ....

[@BiRDiEHere]

“Protactinium is one of the element that is more than totally useless” *glass breaks* Protactinium: 😳

[@mollylemonk]

Protactinium isnt useless, it gave me a kick because this is your greatest hair yet. Never knew I loved Chemistry until I found you. Sincerely, Lowly sceintific media maker inspired to become a Genius like you.

[@Skelpolu]

4:12 Half Life: 32,760 years Half Life: 3[...] Half Life 3 CONFIRMED

[@astropredo]

rip

[@CesarJoseee]

Skelpolu NEVER EVER

[@stop2759]

Oh boy

[@marcelopacheco2479]

Protactinium 233 is very important in the Thorium nuclear fuel cycle. All Thorium in nature is Th232, when it gets a neutron it becomes Th233 which quickly decays to Pa233, but Pa233 has close to one month half life, so it sticks around for a long time, and Pa233 has a large neutron absorption cross section, Pa233 absorbing a neutron is very undersirable, so most efficient Thorium reactors keep the Th232 in a low neutron density area, so the Pa233 has a very low probability of getting a neutron, instead decaying to U233 by itself. U233 is the best possible nuclear fuel we can breed (much better than Plutonium and better than U235). When Pa233 gets a neutron it becomes Pa234 which decays to U234 which is a bad nuclear fuel. U233 fissions in a regular reactor with like 92% probability of fission, while U235 has 85% probability of fission, so a pure Thorium/U233 reactor greatly avoids making Plutonium with the 92% probability of U233 fission + 85% probability of U235 fission. Enough nuclear energy nerd overload !

[@Spartan536]

+Marcelo Pacheco THANK YOU for bringing this up, I was hoping I was not the only one on here that was wondering if this was going to be mentioned. This is "super critical" to solving our nuclear energy problem when used in a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor).

[@KarbineKyle]

These are considered neutron poisons. Uranium-232 is a byproduct of Thorium reactors. U-232 has a relatively short half-life of about 69 years. It emits alpha particles, but it's decay chain is especially problematic, because the decay series emits a lot of gamma rays, especially from Thallium-208, which I believe is about 2.8 MeV!

[@fasulia67]

Can we get an update on the recent fire that burned down Nottingham's chemistry building?

[@TristanJCumpole]

I think that it might have been extinguished by now. Don't quote me, please.

[@TristanJCumpole]

I like to imagine a tubby South Yorkshire fireman ("fahmun" where I'm from) reciting this. That's just me.

[@sliceofgarlicbread6868]

They already have.

[@sliceofgarlicbread6868]

David Lloyd-Jones ???

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Just Multiply Intended for Prostheta.

[@pincushion92]

I literally couldn't believe it when i heard the news about the fire. Of all the people/places it could happen it had to happen to such an important part of the scientific community. I couldn't tell you how happy I was when I found out no one was injured. Very good luck in the future and can't wait to see it finished! Peace :)

[@spiros1994]

I wish one day meet the professor!

[@mattibboss]

Same here... Come to germany one day..

[@STOG01]

mattibboss I suppose if you give him a good enough reason - he might. Something he didn't see before, someone he had not met before... etc :)

[@spiros1994]

Andreev Andrei Unfortunatelly I'm a computer engineer and I have nothing to offer to chemistry. I just admire him so mich, even thought I understand no much of what he says.

[@angushuynh2127]

Me too:D

[@A_Dopamine_Molecule]

spiroslouis1 You may very well have something to offer in computational chemistry.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

One of my favourites, used to love doing a half-life demonstration when I was teaching using protoactinium, still prefer the old name, as I actually find it easier to pronounce and I love history.

[@eurokid83]

I love this series of videos.

[@sliceofgarlicbread6868]

Well if someone does't, they are weird.

[@terrypussypower]

I always used to say it as "Pro-actinium" without the "t". That's one of the reasons these vids are so cool!

[@iammaxhailme]

Wow. I have a chemistry degree, and I never realized that about Argon and Potassium's atomic mass. Now I feel silly!

[@DeanMorrison]

I always love all of the Prof's videos but this is probably the most unexpectedly interesting ones!

[@Z1BABOUINOS]

Prot-actinium, from Greek protos (πρῶτος) meaning first, from Greek aktis (ακτίς) meaning ray or beam

[@naydacolunga4992]

Firstbeamium, Firbeamium? (Fb) Or Firstrayium? Firbeanium nah

[@KarbineKyle]

There are a few errors: @ 2:13, Pa-238 is not the most stable radioisotope of Pa. It's Pa-231, with a half-life of 32,760 years. The description has two errors: It's Pa-234m, with a half-life of 1.17 minutes, and Pa-234, with a half-life of 6.7 hours. Not Pa-238. There's also no known metastable isomer of Pa-238. Pa-238 has a half-life of 2.27 minutes. I'm just pointing it out. Anyway, I always enjoy your videos! Thanks!

[@Tocsin-Bang]

Much prefer the old spelling. A great favourite of mine for demonstrating half-lives.

[@tampakirby]

Protactinium-231 has the half-life of over 32,000 years. Protactinium-238 is only just over a minute. Anyways, just a small correction. Keep up the awesome videos! I can't wait for more actinides!

[@Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

I saw that too -- it's a mistake in the graphic about the most stable isotope. The video description has a note about the half life of isotopes 238 and 238m, but gives different values (and the value for 238 on Wikipedia is different yet, and no 238m there, so somebody must have made a mistake in at least one of these places in addition to the mistake in the video graphic).

[@KarbineKyle]

Great videos! I'd like to see more of this element in the future. Correction: It should be protactinium-231 with the half-life of 32,760 years, not protactinium-238. It's possible you could find trace quantities in compounds in the same column, that contains vanadium, niobium, tantalum, or praseodymium compounds or ores, much like barium ores contain trace amounts of radium. You would need very sensitive equipment, to get the best results.

[@ArrowBast]

when are these ores formed ? during fusion of the planetary body or in gas phase in the condensing planetary dust nebula?

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

I could watch the professor talk about elements all day long...

[@manosmavros]

Christopher Sadlowski true

[@williamjohnson2247]

Protactinium 233 is a intermediate step between Th233 and U233 with a total half-life of about a month and therefore vital for LFTR energy.

[@mmxbass]

Am I the only one who feels like "protoactinium" would have been much easier to pronounce than "protactinium"?

[@andrewkaplan6212]

Yeah youre the only one

[@mmxbass]

+Andrew Kaplan Apparently

[@mmxbass]

+Andrew Kaplan Apparently

[@mmxbass]

+Andrew Kaplan Yeah apparently

[@Joe-xr2xl]

+mmxbass no, I had a harder time saying protactinium, i kept saying protoactinium.

[@sagarsrivastava4811]

I am Computer Science student. This Prof makes me want to study Chemistry.

[@levitheentity4000]

3:43 are you sure? I think Bismuth isn't radioactive, and it's right after lead. Once it's number is 83 while lead is 82.

[@virtualtools_3021]

It is, just at an epicly low level

[@1.4142]

I see you didn't watch their video about it. shame...

[@LayJD_]

@@virtualtools_3021 even lead is believed to decay, albeit much slower than even bismuth.

[@samcavanagh7993]

6:28 Quick maffs

[@BradSchmor]

Dear Sirs, Your noting of protactinium's atomic weight being lower than that of thorium is indeed correct, but another example is visible right next to it - neptunium (237) being lower than plutonium (238). And again - right next to that - americium (243) being lower than plutonium (244). I realize that into these elements we don't have the same "averaging" of atomic weights that we have from uranium downwards, and instead give the weight of the most stable isotope, but it's a trend that repeats numerous times in the actinides - and beyond - 106 to 107, and 108 to 109. Also nickel is slightly lower than cobalt below it.

[@zenthrosrion9147]

While I understand that neptunium is a lighter element than plutonium (it has a lower atomic number, I don’t know why you mentioned it) I will have to read up on americium

[@galoomba5559]

@@zenthrosrion9147 I think they meant uranium

[@rederex8193]

"I have no idea", great answer. :):):):):)

[@velox__]

Great video as always!

[@EdibleOutdoors]

I really enjoyed this video.

[@sednabold859]

Can you do a video on metallic hydrogen although it may stray from strictly chemistry or lack information.

[@georgecaplin9075]

This guy's a legend!

[@PureZOOKS]

Can you do a video on radio metric dating and the many different kinds and uses for it? I am sick of people saying "carbon dating" when there are dozens of others kinds for when carbon dating cannot work.

[@sarian3759]

I like almost every videos so hats off

[@aparnavellala624]

It is quite interesting that Pa(NO3)5 has a low solubility in water, while nitrates are generally highly water soluble, as shown in another video

[@ArrowBast]

I think the UK also ended up with other marketable byproducts from the synthesis of 100 gm Protactinium from 60 tonnes of starter, and could make up or absorb the losses.

[@scottmantooth8785]

at some point, i'm going to have to do a marathon viewing of these periodic videos

[@raven78uk]

Thank You Professor. Great video as always. Best Regards ;)

[@LFTRnow]

Much better job on this new protactinium video! Quite interesting.

[@DeanMorrison]

I learned the Periodic Table from a version I saw of Medeleevs in the early 1970's in a kis magazine called 'Look and Learn" which was square. So important to me I cut it out and stuck it on my wall Everything odd was bundled into a 'Rare Earths' box. It's been fun since to see the rest of the table populated, some surprisingly useful, other transuranic ones surprisingly pointless. Apart from smoke alarms ;)

[@singlespies]

Wish you would make a video on Germanene - the new nanomaterial like Graphene but made from Germanium!

[@lennutrajektoor]

Are there outtakes of this video? would like to see them if they can be put into extras. Thank you!

[@1m2r3a]

What is the difference between aluminium fluoride and sodium fluoride ? ( In terms of toothpaste, the professor has a video how the fluoride interacts with the tooth but I'm interested in that two particular which is better)

[@cameronkellerpiano]

Fascinating! Thank you :)

[@Jeff-xy7fv]

4:44 - And that isotope's mass number is also the one that is displayed on the periodic table.

[@nriab23]

Love these videos :)

[@EricDalgetty]

I really like decay animations in this video!

[@Dartmorin]

I think they are rather bad. The decaying element should change its course by emitting the alpha particle.

[@LFTRnow]

David Markus It did emit alphas. They used the He box from the table and drew an "alpha" on the bottom edge of it. It can be hard to notice.

[@Dartmorin]

It emitted and therefore should have changed course, that' s what I am saying.

[@jasondoe2596]

What's up with the hairdos of great chemists, be it The Professor™ or Dmitri Mendeleyev! Do they style them specifically so that they would look even more awesome during an explosion? :-P Mendeleyev's in particular is outstanding; he looks like a freakin' wise alchemist or something! (Much) More seriously, I've just learned from other comments about the fire - I'm *very* glad nobody was hurt, that's the most important. Since it was a new building, no research or data should have been affected, although I'm sure that it's a major inconvenience for many people and a financial setback. Best wishes to all the kind people of the university.

[@LardGreystoke]

Hairium.

[@ironpulcinella3586]

They give no shits about looks

[@spudmckenzie4959]

A pointless thing to discuss. Though you left out einstein

[@jasondoe2596]

spud mckenzie, I'm amazed you didn't think replying to a 5-year-old facetious comment isn't even _more_ pointless :) I left Einstein out because: 1) He's not the topic of the video. 2) He's not primarily known as a chemist.

[@TCBYEAHCUZ]

***** Please Reupload a new version for Element 90! That is, Thorium! and how it's use's in Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors could be the dawn of new alternate nuclear energy!

[@davidgillies620]

Lise Meitner should have been awarded the Nobel Prize, possibly several times over.

[@samharper5881]

Fantastic. Thank you.

[@htc148]

Ok so if protactinium isotope has a half life of a minute or so, how did they discover it? wouldnt it decay before they can gather the ore? or is it made from or "extracted" from something?

[@serhatboran3640]

Thank you so much

[@timstring0902]

👍 for the animation in which protactinium loses the alpha particle and becomes actinium, really liked 👍 it.

[@George241312]

Can anyone recommend books in order to start learning chemistry? from starter to master?

[@medexamtoolsdotcom]

Oh, check it out, protactinium's most stable isotope has a half life of almost exactly 2^15 years.

[@TheAmazingFocus]

What annoys me about protactinuim is that it breaks the naming convention of its surrounding elements. Thorium (Thor aka Jupiter) is to the left, and Uranium (Uranus), Neptunium (Neptune), and Plutonium (Pluto) are to the right. It should have been called Cronium from the name Cronus, the Greek equivalent to Saturn.

[@zenasm.savage1999]

Also it plays an important placeholder role in the Th-232 U-233 nuclear fuel cycle.

[@bryangill9507]

Thanks Teacher.

[@adaogmailcom]

All the elements in the periodic table have a degree of radioactivity. Is that so? I thought it was just the opposite. All elements in the periodic table BELOW lead have a certain degree of radioactivity. Prof. Parkinoff, can you shed some light on the subject? Thanks

[@kaledelsadi2092]

do you know the odor of protactinium or if there is no odor at all

[@adamthornton7880]

Wait, so if I discover a longer lived isotope of a known element I can rename the element?

[@seancooper8168]

can you get magnesium and/ or sulfur from the eletrolysis of an epsom salt and water solution? its just a thought that i had

[@virtualtools_3021]

I think it would just electrolyse the water it is dissolved in

[@robertwarren6315]

DC verses AC water brake downs into a gasses to see if we can make elements grow.

[@justinmcgillivary3702]

At about 2:22 some of the elements shown, such as Actinium, have one or two stars above their names. Why is this?

[@Jeff-xy7fv]

3:30 - To be honest, I think "protoactinium" is easier to say than "protactinium". They should have just left it well enough alone.

[@HipsterKaren]

Is there a way to test if I have a learning disorder and not have to pay $1,000 for testing? I have a hard time learning all of this.

[@TheSwamper]

What was the starting material?

[@gurrrn1102]

I think it's nicer when an element's name has a unique derivation - that's pretty much all the elements apart from this one and the ridiculous yttrium-ytterbium-terbium-erbium set.

[@sstefanoo88]

I love this guys hair

[@karynbrunton3218]

0:00 I like this one already!

[@LazarusMaria]

Talk about the chemistry of #indyref and the union

[@blackboardplans]

If we were able to make this element easily could it be used as a fuel?

[@ian_b]

So just wondering as I was watching this; if radioactive alpha decay produces Helium nuclei, does this accumulate as a gas in the Earth, and if so where do the Helium atoms get their electrons from? If so can we detect this gas?

[@christiaanprinsloo586]

protactinium exists in very, very small quantities. the only helium released will be atoms in size. when helium is released, it takes some of the electrons which helps in turning protactinium into actinium

[@cerverg]

The most interesting compound is PaF5 or rather it's boiling point... 2*Th(232)F4+ 2*n + F2-> 2Pa(233)F5 (Boiling point: 390 C)

[@andrewschmid9518]

so you are saying that the element moved to the left ,to the left

[@GarethField]

Every compound you associate with, in a flask to the left

[@NeoUno866]

Gareth Field Under the fume hood, that's my stuff Yes, It's corrosive, please don't touch

[@TheLovaticFandomChannel]

Haha, yes!

[@legochickenguy4938]

Brevium would've been such a cooler name. I also wish we said Wolfram still instead of Tungsten and Columbium instead of Niobium.

[@TheBonzobonzo]

hope the fire that took out the new chemistry block doesn't mess with your work?!

[@MedEighty]

Were you guys affected by the recent fire at the university?

[@TVFILMBUFF]

HeHeHeHeHeHeHeHe What a happy chappy.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Helium polymer... very amused.

[@CeoLogJM]

Anyone else get a bad feeling when an element is not useful? :(

[@ashutoshsuman9473]

We just didn't discovered the application or use.

[@someone4650]

I've literally pronounced it proactinium my entire life...

[@Saofiqlord]

Can You Make A New Element By Bombarding 3 Elements?Hydrogen,Helium,Lithium?

[@manosmavros]

Saofiqlord nah

[@nicholastrombone9899]

Wow you get the most expensive carbon

[@fdnt7_]

Ehm, Do you even know about chemistry dude? Their atomic number is 1 , 2 , 3. combined that and you get 1+2+3=6th element (Carbon) which is pretty damn all over the earth. And not a new element.

[@nicholastrombone9899]

Yes I said it would make carbon I never even implied it is a new element

[@fdnt7_]

Nicholas' Trombone ummm sorry im not talking 2 u .-.

[@malcolmabram2957]

One thing that must be said is that it is incredibly dangerous to handle, by which it can be compared to polonium.

[@clamage]

Surely the credit should go to the person(s) that discover the isotope with the shortest half-life - it being more elusive...

[@NotGettinAny]

What do the red stars above some of the elements mean?

[@mirraculous_]

AFAIK these stars are only appear above the Lanthanium and Actinium, because these two elements are starting elements for Lanthanoids and Actinoids groups.

[@TheHuesSciTech]

lambda72rus ... And those stars correspond to stars on the main periodic table to indicate where the lanthanides and actinides "slot in".

[@somebodythatiusedtoknoooooooow]

They made 59 tons and 850 kilograms of other materials that they've also sold :) So overall its not a loss :_)

[@NNJAx]

This guy is the Bill Nye of KZbin

[@rcmast3rtract0rking]

its probably a stupid question but I have no idea, why ium at the end of most element names?

[@chrisofnottingham]

For elements I think -ium indicates a metal. Obviously there isn't an inverse relationship because common metal elements already had names before chemistry got going. In other chemistry contexts -ium has a more complex use that I can't even attempt to understand.

[@rcmast3rtract0rking]

ahh that's cool, thanks Chris :)

[@LFTRnow]

Chrisofnottingham is right, and also interesting, is have you noticed "helium" ends with -ium? It was originally thought it was a metal when first discovered in the sun spectra. When later found on earth we found out it was a gas. Notice the noble gases are all "-on" (ie Arg-on), except for helium.

[@frollard]

as a suffix it's from latin for 'forming a group'. Nothing particularly 'elementy' about it until they started using it that way. From some website: early metals such as iron, gold, etc were known long before the latin naming scheme was used to identify them (ferrum, aurum respectively).

[@GiovaniCeotto]

Why do these inverted pairs exist?

[@clemstevenson]

More profit can be made from stable elements. That's right; there's brass to be made from zinc and copper :-)

[@robertwarren6315]

I believe it should grow like skin cells of flesh. Which i believe it could also ungrow not like decaying, ware 2 becomes 1 like 1 becomes 2. Which could proove shape shifting as a real thing.

[@philipb2134]

Protractinium: the element which takes a protracted time confirming its discovery heh heh

[@marlenepachner8405]

how is it possible that it is lighter than Thorium with a higher atomic number??

[@freddyvlutters]

Did he say quick maths near the end....?

[@SardonicALLY]

Yes he did, I assume you are questioning the use of he word ''Maths''? In the UK and Ireland we say ''Mathematics'' and always abbreviate it to ''Maths'' ... we never say ''Math''. So what he said is entirely consistent with the language of English as it is spoken in England. =D

[@mapu1]

They probably sold the other tings they extracted from same base materials, so they (probably) wont make a loss.

[@Vistico93]

Why were they making a visible amount of protactinium at a loss? Because it's cool.

[@MsRAZGRIZ1]

When element zero will be discovered? :D