RadiumRadium (Ra) was discovered in the ore pitchblende by the French chemists Marie and Pierre Curie and an assistant in 1898. It is a radioactive element, classified as an alkaline earth metal in the periodic table. It is found naturally in uranium and thorium ores, and when isolated, it is a slivery, lustrous, and soft metal. Radium is formed by the radioactive disintegration of uranium. Radiation from radium harms living cells, and overexposure to its rays can burn. Because cancer cells are more sensitive to radiation than normal cells, radium is used in the treatment of a few types of cancer. Radium was once used in the production of luminous paints that were applied to clock dials and other objects to make them glow in the dark, until its harmful effects became widely known. This book gives readers a comprehensive overview of the properties and uses of the radioactive element radium and its place on the periodic table. |
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Contents
Introduction | 5 |
Chapter Two A Closer Look at Radium | 14 |
Chapter Three Radium and Radiation | 24 |
Chapter Four The Reality of Radium | 32 |
The Periodic Table of Elements | 38 |
For Further Reading | 44 |
Common terms and phrases
alkaline earth metals alpha particles atom’s atomic weight beta particle called the alkaline cancer cells cancer treatment Cerium chemical bonds Chemical Symbol chemist contain radium Dalton’s decay product different number discovered radium discovery eight electrons eighty-eight protons ejects energy level exposure to radiation Fahrenheit 20 gains electrons gamma rays glow group 2 elements half-life High-energy radiation increasing atomic number inside the nucleus ionizing radiation isotopes Kristi Lew laboratory Madame Curie Marie Curie mass number Mendeleyev Mendeleyev’s periodic table molecules negatively charged neutrons Nobel Prize Nonmetals number goes number of neutrons number of protons octet rule periodic table pitchblende positively charged particle properties protons protons and neutrons radiation exposure radioactive decay radioactive element Radithor radium atom Radium Craze Radium Girls radium is found radon react rearranged Mendeleyev’s periodic Röntgen Rutherford spinthariscopes stable subatomic particle substances U.S. Radium uranium uranium compound uranium rays uranium-containing mineral valence electrons VIB VIIB VIIIB X-rays
Bibliographic information
| Title | Radium Understanding the Elements of the Periodic Table |
| Author | Kristi Lew |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 2009 |
| ISBN | 1435850726, 9781435850729 |
| Length | 48 pages |
| Subjects | › › Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Chemistry |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |