What (who) is Radium - definition

CHEMICAL ELEMENT WITH THE ATOMIC NUMBER OF 88

Element 88; Radium (Ra); User:Double sharp/Radium; Ra (element); Raydium; Eka-barium

radium

Radium is a radioactive element which is used in the treatment of cancer.

N-UNCOUNT

radium

['re?d??m]

¦ noun the chemical element of atomic number 88, a radioactive metal of the alkaline earth series. (Symbol: Ra)

Origin

C19: from L. radius 'ray' + -ium.

Radium

·add. ·noun An intensely radioactive metallic element found (combined) in minute quantities in pitchblende, and various other uranium minerals. Symbol, Ra; atomic weight, 226.4. Radium was discovered by M. and Mme. Curie, of Paris, who in 1902 separated compounds of it by a tedious process from pitchblende. Its compounds color flames carmine and give a characteristic spectrum. It resembles barium chemically. Radium preparations are remarkable for maintaining themselves at a higher temperature than their surroundings, and for their radiations, which are of three kinds: alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays (see these terms). By reason of these rays they ionize gases, affect photographic plates, cause sores on the skin, and produce many other striking effects. Their degree of activity depends on the proportion of radium present, but not on its state of chemical combination or on external conditions. The radioactivity of radium is therefore an atomic property, and is explained as result from a disintegration of the atom. This breaking up occurs in at least seven stages; the successive main products have been studied and are called radium emanation or exradio, radium A, radium B, radium C, ·etc. (The emanation is a heavy gas, the later products are solids.) These products are regarded as unstable elements, each with an atomic weight a little lower than its predecessor. It is possible that lead is the stable end product. At the same time the light gas helium is formed; it probably consists of the expelled alpha particles. The heat effect mentioned above is ascribed to the impacts of these particles. Radium, in turn, is believed to be formed indirectly by an immeasurably slow disintegration of uranium.

Wikipedia

Radium

Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather than oxygen) upon exposure to air, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride (Ra₃N₂). All isotopes of radium are radioactive, the most stable isotope being radium-226 with a half-life of 1,600 years. When radium decays, it emits ionizing radiation as a by-product, which can excite fluorescent chemicals and cause radioluminescence.

Radium, in the form of radium chloride, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 from ore mined at Jáchymov. They extracted the radium compound from uraninite and published the discovery at the French Academy of Sciences five days later. Radium was isolated in its metallic state by Marie Curie and André-Louis Debierne through the electrolysis of radium chloride in 1911.

In nature, radium is found in uranium and (to a lesser extent) thorium ores in trace amounts as small as a seventh of a gram per ton of uraninite. Radium is not necessary for living organisms, and adverse health effects are likely when it is incorporated into biochemical processes because of its radioactivity and chemical reactivity. As of 2014, other than its use in nuclear medicine, radium has no commercial applications. Formerly, around the 1950s, it was used as a radioactive source for radioluminescent devices and also in radioactive quackery for its supposed curative power. These applications have become obsolete owing to radium's toxicity; as of 2020, less dangerous isotopes (of other elements) are instead used in radioluminescent devices.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium

Pronunciation examples for Radium

1. Everything from radium soda to radium toothpaste soon appeared on shelves. Even radium water

The Radium Girls

2. where radium was handled.

Ten Women Who Changed Science, and The World _ Catherine Whitlock _ Talks at Google

3. Some bought radium-enhanced water,

Ten Women Who Changed Science, and The World _ Catherine Whitlock _ Talks at Google

4. of being exposed to radium.

Ten Women Who Changed Science, and The World _ Catherine Whitlock _ Talks at Google

5. they had a radium source.

No Need for Geniuses _ Professor Steve Jones _ Talks at Google

Examples of use of Radium

1. Nobel Laureate Marie Curie came to Colorado to collect radium for her pioneering experiments.

2. Louis University, said misplacing the radium raises questions about how Energy Department contractors are handling nuclear waste.

3. PIKETON, Ohio –– A small bar of radium is missing from a former uranium enrichment plant in southern Ohio, the U.S.

4. It gave instructions to distill radium from certain industrial products and to construct a detonation device to disperse the radioactive material.

5. It is produced from radium in the decay chain of uranium, an element found in varying amounts in all rocks and soil.