Elemental - Promethium Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Welcome to the elemental series. I got the idea for this from going over the periodic table with my son BenzBoy2002 and thought it might be a fun series to do.
10/21/2014 I went with my good friend cyclist81550 to check on this one after lunch. We spent close to 20 minutes looking for this one before I spotted it, well hidden from view. The original hiding spot is no longer there but whoever rehid it for me (it is still the original container) did a wonderful job and I almost replaced the container before I spotted it.
I will not be giving out any hints...trust me it is there
Promethium ( /prɵˈmiːθiəm/ pro-MEE-thee-əm), originally prometheum, is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. It is notable for being the only element besides technetium all of whose isotopes are radioactive but which is followed in the periodic table by chemical elements with stable isotopes. Chemically, promethium is a lanthanide, which forms salts when combined with other elements. Promethium shows only one stable oxidation state of +3; however, a few +2 compounds may exist. In 1902, Bohuslav Brauner suggested there was an element with properties intermediate between those of the known elements neodymium (60) and samarium (62); this was confirmed in 1914 by Henry Moseley who, having measured the atomic numbers of all the elements then known, found there was no element with atomic number 61. In 1926, an Italian and an American group claimed to have isolated a sample of element 61; both "discoveries" were soon proven to be false. In 1938, during a nuclear experiment conducted at Ohio State University, a few radioactive nuclides were produced that certainly were not radioisotopes of neodymium or samarium, but there was a lack of chemical proof that element 61 was produced, and the discovery was not generally recognized. Promethium was first produced and characterized at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1945 by the separation and analysis of the fission products of uranium fuel irradiated in a graphite reactor. The discoverers proposed the name "prometheum" (the spelling was subsequently changed), derived from Prometheus, the Titan in Greek mythology who stole fire from Mount Olympus and brought it down to humans, to symbolize "both the daring and the possible misuse of mankind's intellect." However, a sample of the metal was made only in 1963. There are three possible sources for promethium: 1.rare decays of natural (primordial) neodymium (producing promethium-150), 2.europium (promethium-147), and 3.uranium (various isotopes). The most stable isotope, promethium-145, has a very low rate of alpha decay, so that the alpha half-life is long enough for the presence of primordial promethium to be theoretically possible; however, this has not been experimentally confirmed. Practical applications exist only for chemical compounds of promethium-147, which are used in luminous paint, atomic batteries and thickness measurement devices. Since natural promethium is exceedingly scarce, the element is typically synthesized by bombarding uranium-235 (enriched uranium) with thermal neutrons (for promethium-147).
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[no hints, don't overthink it]
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures