Depleted uranium is used as a counterweight because of what property?

Depleted uranium is used as a counterweight because of what property?

• A. It is cheap.
• B. It is a heavy metal.
• C. It is non-toxic.
• D. It is highly reactive.

Answer: (B)

Density is the key factor here. A counterweight needs a lot of mass in a small space, and depleted uranium is extremely dense—about 19.1 g/cm³. That means you can achieve a large weight without a bulky volume, which is exactly what you want for balancing aircraft or structural components. The other properties listed (cost, toxicity, reactivity) aren’t what drive the choice for a counterweight; they don’t define its suitability the way high density does. So the reason it’s used here is its very high density as a heavy metal.

Density is the key factor here. A counterweight needs a lot of mass in a small space, and depleted uranium is extremely dense—about 19.1 g/cm³. That means you can achieve a large weight without a bulky volume, which is exactly what you want for balancing aircraft or structural components. The other properties listed (cost, toxicity, reactivity) aren’t what drive the choice for a counterweight; they don’t define its suitability the way high density does. So the reason it’s used here is its very high density as a heavy metal.