* Uranium's Atomic Number: Uranium has an atomic number of 92, meaning every uranium atom has 92 protons.
* Isotopes and Neutrons: Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but differ in the number of neutrons.
* Stability: For uranium to be stable (meaning it doesn't readily decay), it needs a certain number of neutrons to balance the strong forces within the nucleus. Uranium with fewer than 3 neutrons would be extremely unstable and wouldn't exist for any measurable amount of time.
The most common uranium isotopes are:
* Uranium-238 (U-238): Has 92 protons and 146 neutrons
* Uranium-235 (U-235): Has 92 protons and 143 neutrons
Let me know if you have any other questions!
