discovery of plutonium

Plutonium was discovered in 1940 by American scientists Edwin McMillan and Philip H. Abelson at the University of California, Berkeley. They created it by bombarding uranium with deuterons, a type of particle derived from hydrogen. This process transformed uranium into neptunium, which then underwent further reactions to eventually form plutonium. Initially, it was identified as a new element due to its unique radioactive properties. Plutonium's significance grew during World War II, as it became a key material in atomic bombs, notably used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.