No. The Curies did not discover uranium.
They discovered polonium and radium, of which polonium is more radioactive.
Wladyslaw and Bronislawa
Eve and Irene
Radioactivity was discovered during 1896 by Henri Becquerel, who was a French scientist when he was working on phosphorescent materials. Other research was done by Becquerel, Ernest Rutherford, Paul Villard, Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and others afterwards.
Marie and Pierre Curie have no living children. They do have one remaining granddaughter, who lives in Europe.
She was in the study of Radiology and she helped to introduce and increase knowledge which is still used today.
The Curies discovered two radioactive elements: polonium and radium.
Polonium was discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie in 1898. Radium was discovered by Marie Curie, Pierre Curie and G. Bemont also in 1898. 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.
This element Po(84) was the first one discovered by the Curies while they were investigating the cause of pitchblenderadioactivity (1898). The pitchblende, after removal of the radioactive elements uranium and thorium (Th), was more radioactive than both the uranium and thorium put together. This spurred the Curies on to find additional radioactive elements. The Curies first separated out polonium from the pitchblende1), and then within a few years, also isolated radium.1) The type locality for this ore is Jáchymov in the Czech Republic, from where F.E.Brückmann described the mineral in 1727.Pitchblende from the Johanngeorgenstadt deposit in Germany was used by M.Klaproth in 1789 to discover the element uranium.
Radium was discovered by the Curies in France in 1898, in samples of pitchblende which were found to be radioactive after removal of the uranium.
Marie Curie was interested in the recent discoveries of radiation. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen had discovered X rays in 1895, and in 1896 Antoine Henri Becquerel had discovered that the element uranium gives off similar invisible radiations. Curie thus began studying uranium radiations, and, using piezoelectric techniques devised by her husband, carefully measured the radiations in pitchblende, an ore containing uranium. When she found that the radiations from the ore were more intense than those from uranium itself, she realized that unknown elements, even more radioactive than uranium, must be present. Marie Curie was the first to use the term radioactive to describe elements that give off radiations as their nuclei break down.Pierre Curie ended his own work on magnetism to join his wife's research, and in 1898 the Curies announced their discovery of two new elements: radium and polonium (named by Marie in honor of Poland)
Radium was discovered in France by the Curies, in samples of ore from the Austrian Empire, in 1898.
For an object to be considered radioactive, it must contain unstable atoms that undergo radioactive decay, emitting radiation in the process. Common radioactive elements include uranium, thorium, and radium. The level of radioactivity is measured by the rate at which the atoms decay, typically expressed in units such as becquerels or curies.
Radium was more or less discovered by accident while the Curies were looking for Uranium in samples of Pitchblende. In 1898, they discovered in tiny amounts, Polonium in July, and Radium in December.
Henri Becquerel and the Curies discovered that some elements, like uranium and radium, emitted radiation spontaneously, leading to the development of the field of nuclear physics. This groundbreaking research laid the foundation for the understanding of radioactivity and its applications in various fields, including medicine and energy production.
uranium
Marie Curie studied the radiation of all compounds containing the known radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium, which she later discovered was also radioactive. She also found out that: - you can exactly measure the strength of the radiation from uranium; - the intensity of the radiation is proportional to the amount of uranium or thorium in the compound - no matter what compound it is; - the ability to emit radiation does not depend on the arrangement of the atoms in a molecule; it must be linked to the interior of the atom itself - a revolutionary discovery! When she realized that some uranium and/or thorium compounds had stronger radiation than uranium, she made the following hypothesis: there must be an unknown element in the compound which had a stronger radiation than uranium or thorium. Her work aroused the interest of her husband, Pierre Curie, who stopped his own research on crystals and joined the "detective work" with his wife. And Marie was proven right: in 1898 the Curies discovered two new radioactive elements: radium (named after the Latin word for ray) and polonium (named after Marie's home country, Poland.
Henri Bacquerel first experimented with phosphorescent materials and discovered radioactivity. The Curies and Ernest Rutherford later experimented with it. -------------------------------------------------- The first hypothesis on isotopes is from Frederick Soddy (1912); the practical confirmation is attributed to J. J. Thomson (1913). Henri Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity studying uranium salts.