Radium is a highly radioactive alkaline earth metal used in research and historically in various industries. It was once used in personal care products until its harmful effects were discovered. Marie Curie discovered and isolated radium, which is named after its radioactive properties. It is used in cancer treatment and medical imaging and can be found in some antiques.
Radium is a highly radioactive chemical element classified among the alkaline earth metals of the periodic table of elements. This element has several research uses and has historically been used in a wide variety of industries. Before it was realized that radiation was harmful, radium was actually used as a health additive in personal care products, and its inclusion was a publicity point to make these products appealing to consumers. Unfortunately, there were a number of radiation-related deaths before the scientific community realized that radium and other radioactive elements posed a health threat.
Radium is found in trace amounts in uranium ore and is significantly more radioactive than uranium, an element well known for its use in atomic weapons. This element is the heaviest of the alkaline earths, and when isolated it is a pure white metal that glows in the dark. Radium reacts rapidly with air, turning black when exposed, and also interacts with the containers in which it is stored, making it difficult to handle safely. The element has atomic number 88, and is identified with the symbol Ra on the periodic table of elements.
The discovery of radium is credited to Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, who discovered radium and polonium during uranium research in Curie’s native Poland in the 1880s. By 1911, Curie had successfully isolated the element, after received the Nobel Prize in 1903 for his work; she received another one in 1911 for her radium isolation. Curie was quite a remarkable woman for the time in which she worked; she was an accomplished chemist and physicist, and her contributions to science are honored by the element curium and the Curie, a unit of radiation.
Curie named the element radium for the Latin radius, or “ray,” referring to the element’s radioactive properties. Commercially, the element was used in a variety of luminescent products, especially paints, until the scientific community realized that these uses were dangerous. During the time radium was used commercially, numerous workers became ill from their exposure, and some lobbied for better worker protection in hopes of preventing further cases of occupational disease in the future.
In research, radium is used as a neutron source in laboratories, and is also sought after by scientists interested in learning more about it and its isotopes. Radium is also sometimes used in cancer treatment and medical imaging. Some antiques such as watches with luminescent dials contain radium, a testament to the element’s once widespread commercial use.
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