Element 95 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is americium. Americium is used in home smoke detectors and could also be used as an alternative to plutonium in space probes in the future.
Element 94 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is plutonium. Plutonium is used in nuclear weapons and has also powered famous space probes in journeys out of our solar system.
Element 93 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is neptunium. Neptunium is a radioactive metal with few uses – though it is found in smoke detectors, and is also predicted to have the largest liquid range of any element.
Element 92 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is uranium. Uranium fuels nuclear power plants and has also been used in nuclear bombs and armour-piercing weaponry.
Element 91 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is protactinium. Protactinium is a scarce and radioactive element which finds use in the dating of sediments.
Element 90 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is thorium. Thorium was used in streetlights before the advent of electricity and might be used in a number of countries to generate it in the future in nuclear reactors.