History of Radium
Radium was discovered in 1898 by married scientists Marie and Pierre Curie with the help of Gustave Bémont. Marie Curie was not satisfied with the microscopic result of radium. During a 4-year process, Marie Curie extracted every pound of ore out of the uranium ore. As she did this, the sample got smaller and the radioactivity got stronger. She eventually reduced the sample making it weight less than 0.01 ounce (0.28 gram). After verifying radium was truly a new element, the Curies publicly announced their discovery on December 26, 1898, naming the new element radium after the Latin word for ray, “radius."
Abundance
The abundance of Radium in the earth's crust is about 0.00001 parts per million. It is extremely rare to find Radium in the earth's crust, atmosphere, or universe. You mainly find this element by extracting it from other chemical reactions. However, Radium is more common in society, like in medicine and other uses such as this.
How Radium is used in life
Radium is most known for fighting diseases and killing cancer cells. It is used as radiation for many chemo treatments. But, it isn’t used too often anymore because cobalt and cesium are stronger and cheaper. Also, Radium is not used in as many things today like glow sticks because if it were to break open, it would be absorbed into the skin and kill the good cells and tissues within your body. Today, it is also used in medicine, academics, and industry, as well as for generating electricity. Radiation has useful applications in such areas as agriculture, archaeology (carbon dating), space exploration, law enforcement, geology (including mining), and many others. More common uses for radium in the medical field are shown in x-rays or chemotherapy therapy for cancer. When the radiation is used in this way, it is intended to kill cancerous tissue, reduce the size of a tumor, or reduce pain. From an educational standpoint, Radium is used in universities, colleges, high schools, and other academic and scientific institutions. They use nuclear materials in course work, laboratory demonstrations, experimental research, and a variety of health physics applications. Industrial uses are more common in foods, medical equipment, and other substances like x-rays to kill germs without harming the substance that is being disinfected. This causes foods to take much longer to spoil. Electricity produced by nuclear fission is one of the most common uses of radiation. Radiation sources can be used to power spacecraft and satellites, the lights on ocean buoys, and remote weather stations. They can also be used to generate electrical power and in a nuclear reactor.
Compounds
Radium makes compounds with non-metals. It commonly bonds with oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, and nitrogen. Radium is the most reactive of the alkine-earth elements. When it reacts with acids, it produces hydrogen gas.
Interesting Facts
When a radium salt is mixed with a paste of zinc sulfide, the alpha radiation causes the zinc sulfide to glow. This paste was used for painting watches, clocks, and instrument dials allowing them to glow. This was a large health hazard because the women performing these jobs were consuming large amounts of radium through a technique called “lip-pointing." These women would use their lips and tongues to shape their paintbrushes to a fine tip. Even though radium is used to treat cancer and used for other medical uses, it has also killed many lives. The reason for this is because radium attacks your cells and tissues. If you are trying to kill bad cells like cancer then you use radiation to attack those cells and try not to let the radiation spread to other good cells. Radiation can also attack the good cells, which is how it kills you if you come in contact with it too often or in large amounts. "A person who spends a full year at the boundary of a nuclear power plant site would receive an additional radiation exposure of less than 1 percent of the radiation that everyone receives from natural background sources."
Quotes About Radium
“We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for mankind. ”
- Marie Curie
"Radium could be very dangerous in criminal hands"
- Pierre Curie
- Marie Curie
"Radium could be very dangerous in criminal hands"
- Pierre Curie
Works Cited
Fun Links
"Radium Clocks." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=vJx6WudEzDM>.
Websites
N.p., n.d. Web.<http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/PT/Radium.htmlhttp://www.chemistryexplained.com
/elements/P-T/Radium.html>.
Staff, By Live Science. "Facts About Radium." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/39623-facts-about-radium.html>.
"Uses of Radiation." NRC:. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/around us/uses-radiation.html>.
"Radium (Ra) | Chemical Element." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 29
Oct. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/science/radium>.
"Power Generation." From Radiation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. <http://www.radiationanswers.org/radiation- sources-uses/industrial-uses/power-generation.html>.
"A Quote by Marie Curie." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. < <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/93640-we-must-not-forget-that-when-radium-was-discovered-no>.
Radium Quotes. Digital image. Lifetime Quotes, n.d. Web. <http://quotes.lifehack.org/media/quotes/quote- Pierre-Curie-radium-could-be-very-dangerous-in-criminal-52567.png>.
Books
Miller, Ron. The Elements: What You Really Want to Know. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century, 2006. Print.
The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2010. Print.
"Radium Clocks." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=vJx6WudEzDM>.
Websites
N.p., n.d. Web.<http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/PT/Radium.htmlhttp://www.chemistryexplained.com
/elements/P-T/Radium.html>.
Staff, By Live Science. "Facts About Radium." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/39623-facts-about-radium.html>.
"Uses of Radiation." NRC:. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/around us/uses-radiation.html>.
"Radium (Ra) | Chemical Element." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 29
Oct. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/science/radium>.
"Power Generation." From Radiation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. <http://www.radiationanswers.org/radiation- sources-uses/industrial-uses/power-generation.html>.
"A Quote by Marie Curie." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. < <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/93640-we-must-not-forget-that-when-radium-was-discovered-no>.
Radium Quotes. Digital image. Lifetime Quotes, n.d. Web. <http://quotes.lifehack.org/media/quotes/quote- Pierre-Curie-radium-could-be-very-dangerous-in-criminal-52567.png>.
Books
Miller, Ron. The Elements: What You Really Want to Know. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century, 2006. Print.
The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2010. Print.
