Radium
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Radium is a radioactive element in Group 2 (IIA) and Row 7 of the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie (1867-1934) and her husband, Pierre Curie (1867-1934). It was found in an ore of uranium called pitchblende. The alkaline earth metals also include beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium.
Radium is luminescent, meaning it gives off radiation that can be seen in the dark. Because of its radiation, however, it has relatively few uses.
History
Radium is Latin for radius, or ray. The element was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie in North Bohemia, where it occurs naturally in the pitchblende or uranite. It was first isolate by Marie Curie through the electrolysis of a radium chloride solution, using a mercury cathode. Upon distillation in an atmosphere of hydrogen, this amalgam yielded the pure metal!
Because of the radioactive nature of radium, and the fact that Mme. Curie first isolated the radium element, the unit for radioactivity is called the curie (Ci). She also earned two Nobel Prizes for her work towards further understanding radium, especially its radioactive nature. In fact, after her extensive study of radium, and later uranium, Marie Curie became and advocate of X-ray technology, teaching over 150 women to use X-rays to aid doctors around the time of World War I. Unfortunately, from their continued work with the radioactive element, both Marie and her husband Pierre became sick from overexposure. After winning a Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, and founding the "Radium Institute" in Paris, Marie died in 1934. Subsequently the "Radium Institute" was renamed the "Curie Institute." The Institute is still in existence today, however, Marie's notebooks in which she recorded all of her findings are, to this day, still locked up - they are too radioactive to handle.
Radium on the Earth
Where is radium found?
Radium was first found in Bohemia in the rich pitchblence ore. Some can also be found in the Carnotite sands of Colorado, although richer supplies exist in regions of Zaire, Africa and the Great Bear Lake region of Canada.
Radium is present in all uranium metals, and can be extracted from the waste products of uranium processing.
What does it look like?
Radium, when in its pure metal form, is a brilliant white while fresh. However, it blackens when exposed to air, due to the formation of radium nitride on the surface. It exhibits luminescence, decomposes in water, and is more volatile that its fellow alkaline earth metal, barium (Ba). When put to a flame, radium displays a red carmine color.
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