iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.
iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.



Link to original content: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/143239a0
Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction | Nature
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction

ON bombarding uranium with neutrons, Fermi and collaborators1 found that at least four radioactive substances were produced, to two of which atomic numbers larger than 92 were ascribed. Further investigations2 demonstrated the existence of at least nine radioactive periods, six of which were assigned to elements beyond uranium, and nuclear isomerism had to be assumed in order to account for their chemical behaviour together with their genetic relations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Fermi, E., Amaldi, F., d'Agostino, O., Rasetti, F., and Segrè, E. Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 146, 483 (1934).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. See Meitner, L., Hahn, O., and Strassmann, F., Z. Phys., 106, 249 (1937).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Curie, I., and Savitch, P., C.R., 208, 906, 1643 (1938).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hahn, O., and Strassmann, F., Naturwiss., 26, 756 (1938).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hahn, O., and Strassmann, F., Naturwiss., 27, 11 (1939).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bohr, N., NATURE, 137, 344, 351 (1936).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bohr, N., and Kalckar, F., Kgl. Danske Vid. Selskab, Math. Phys. Medd., 14, Nr. 10 (1937).

  8. See Meitner, L., Strassmann, F., and Hahn, O., Z. Phys., 109, 538 (1938).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bethe, A. H., and Placzek, G., Phys. Rev., 51, 450 (1937).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Meitner, L., Frisch, O.R. Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction. Nature 143, 239–240 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143239a0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143239a0

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing