Why is radium more important than gold?

Answer 1

The short version is that, just as certain numbers of electrons give inert elements and certain other numbers give highly reactive elements, the stability of a nucleus is dependent on the number of neutrons and protons. Some isotopes of gold contain the proper numbers of nucleons to be stable; no isotopes of radium do, so radium is radioactive.

Answer 2

No element is "more important" than any other element.

However every element has different properties than those of other elements, making each useful for different things that humans wish to do.

Radium is much much rarer than gold and harder to extract from its ore, making it more expensive by orders of magnitude.

All isotopes of radium are intensely radioactive: emitting alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. The single naturally occurring isotope of gold is not radioactive.

All isotopes of radium are decay products on the uranium decay chains.

Gold has the unusual property of being the only metal malleable enough that it can be hammered down to a sheet one atom thick without ripping (i.e. gold leaf).

Radium's radioactivity has made it useful in medical treatment of cancer.

Gold is useful in the medical treatment of gout.

Answer 3

why radium is more precious than gold