Now radium hasn't practical applications. Uranium has many applications as nuclear fuel and also in nuclear weapons and strong tank armors.
The most dangerous of these is Polonium, the isotope of Po 210 has specific activity of 166 tera Bq for each gram. An ingested microscopic speck of 0.1 microgram would be lethal.
radium
Radium (Ra)
polonium, radium, plutonium and many others
Radium (Ra)
The most dangerous of these is Polonium, the isotope of Po 210 has specific activity of 166 tera Bq for each gram. An ingested microscopic speck of 0.1 microgram would be lethal.
She discovered the elements Polonium, which was named after her homeland, and radium. Polonium is 4x more radioactive than uranium and radium is 10x more radioactive than uranium.
radium
radium
polonium, radium, plutonium and many others
Radium (Ra)
Radium (Ra)
The Curies noted that pitchblende, one of many compounds of uranium, had significantly higher amounts of radioactivity than other compounds. From that, they concluded that pithcblende contained an element more radioactive than uranium. They chemically removed those parts of pitchblende with less radioactivity, and ended up with a microscopic amount of radium -- after processing literally tons of pitchblende.
Studying residues of uranium ores, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie found that these residues are more radioactive than uranium; they attributed this radioactivity to unknown elements. They isolated these elements and named these elements polonium and radium.
Radium is atomicnumber 88Appearence: A radioactive metal found naturally in uranium ores. It was extracted from this source for many years for cancer treatment and for the luminous paint applied to clock and watch dials. Production is now as little as 100 grammes per yearBiological Role: Radium has no known biological role. It is toxic due to its radioactivity.Natural Abundance: Radium is present in all uranium ores, and could be extracted as a by-product of uranium refining. The usual source of pitchblende comes from Bohemia, but some radium-containing ores are found in Canada and the USA. Annual production of this element is less than 100 grams.
Studying residues of uranium ores Marie Curie and Pierre Curie found that these residues are more radioactive than uranium; they attributed this radioactivity to unknown elements. They isolated these elements and named these elements polonium and radium.
Radium was discovered by Marie Sklodowska Curie, a Polish chemist, and Pierre Curie, a French chemist, in 1898. Marie Curie obtained radium from pitchblende, a material that contains uranium, after noticing that unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that was separated from it. She reasoned that pitchblende must contain at least one other radioactive element. Curie needed to refine several tons of pitchblende in order to obtain tiny amounts of radium and polonium, another radioactive element discovered by Curie. One ton of uranium ore contains only about 0.14 grams of radium. Today, radium can be obtained as a byproduct of refining uranium and is usually sold as radium chloride (RaCl2) or radium bromide (RaBr2) and not as a pure material.