Radium
From WikiAlpha
Radium is a chemical element, an alkaline earth metal. All isotopes of radium are radioactive, with the most stable isotope having a half-life of 1601 years.[1][2] Due to the short half-life Radium is scarce and is found as a daughter element in deposits of other radioactive elements with longer half lives, like Uranium and Thorium.
In the decades following its discovery Radium was sometimes touted as having remarkable curative properties.[3] The dangers of Radium are better recognized now. Its toxicity to growing cells is exploited in fighting some kinds of cancer.
References
- ↑ United States Radium Corporation (1922). Radium. Adams & Grace Company. http://books.google.ca/books?ei=6lF8UJzsKKeBygHR1IGgCw&id=z9Vy1cL9Y1QC&dq=radium&q=half-life#search_anchor. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ↑ Kristi Lew (2009). Radium: Understanding the elements of the periodic table. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 9781435850729. http://books.google.ca/books?id=KvBWm6Kpij0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=radium&source=bl&ots=JZxvWZ_4zN&sig=QTUG-89ndxwYqULEiuLw7ZKbsYs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6lF8UJzsKKeBygHR1IGgCw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=half%20life&f=false. Retrieved 2012-10-15. "Radium (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."
- ↑ "Drinking Water Charged by Radium". The Saskatoon Phoenix. 1913-10-22. p. 7. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gLhfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2WwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4990,2229044&dq=radium-cruiser+. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
