EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements.

Detailed explanation-2: -So the heaviest naturally occurring element is going to be uranium. And if we look on the periodic table, uranium has an atomic number of 92.

Detailed explanation-3: -Uranium was discovered in 1789 by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. It is the heaviest naturally occurring element in the universe and is naturally radioactive. Its nucleus is unstable, so the element is in a constant state of decay, seeking a more stable arrangement.

Detailed explanation-4: -Clocking in (mostly) with 92 protons and 146 neutrons, it’s the heaviest “primordial” element. That makes it the most massive element on Earth to have been created before our planet existed. Not that you’ll ever find it as a pure element, only inside other compounds. When refined, it’s a silvery-white metal.

Detailed explanation-5: -The actinide concept brought discoveries of element 95, americium (Am), element 96, curium (Cm), and further successive heavy actinides. The current actinide series consists of the 15 chemical elements from actinium (Ac) through lawrencium (Lr).