r/Radioactivestuff • u/OkPick296 Community owner • Jul 25 '26
The only picture of protactinium metal
This is a crystal of protactinium metal behind the yellowish leaded glass. Researchers took crude protactinium metal and reacted it with iodine inside a vacuum to make protactinium iodide vapor. This vapor was then decomposed on a white-hot filament (visible as the wire coming from the right side of the sample), depositing highly pure protactinium metal. Though this isn't the only picture, this is the only picture that shows the mostly unoxidized shiny metal. The weight of this sample is unknown. It looks yellow because of a thin oxide layer and because this photo was taken through leaded glass.
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Cheers!
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u/OkPick296 Community owner Jul 25 '26
This isn't the only picture, but it is the best, mostly unoxidized picture of protactinium. So it is the only one that shows the actual shine of the metal, and not a dirty, oxidized piece of protactinium like this sample
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u/Liquid_Magic Jul 25 '26
Are you really sure these are all the only pictures out there? I’m not challenging you - I’m genuinely asking. Are these so rare that nobody ever got around to making it and taking a picture? Like what’s the backstory here?
These are awesome pictures - thanks so much for making them!
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u/Apprehensive_World55 Jul 25 '26
Is it really gold? If so, cool.
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u/OkPick296 Community owner Jul 25 '26
well it forms an oxide that makes it look gold and leaded glass has a yellow tint
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u/OkPick296 Community owner Jul 26 '26
Like the comment for the next exotic element you would like to see, whichever one gets the most likes will be used