Radium
💡 In Your World
Radium is a highly radioactive metal famous for its historical use in products that glow in the dark. Before its dangers were understood, it was mixed with paint and applied to watch dials, aircraft switches, and instrument panels. This practice was stopped after the tragic story of the "Radium Girls," factory workers who suffered fatal radiation poisoning. Today, its use is extremely limited due to its radioactivity.
📖 The Discovery Story
Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie in Paris. While studying the mineral pitchblende, they removed the uranium and found that the remaining material was still highly radioactive. Through painstaking labor, they processed tons of pitchblende to isolate a tiny amount of the new element. They named it "radium" from the Latin word radius, meaning "ray," in recognition of its power to emit energy in the form of rays.
📊 Properties at a Glance
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Melting Point | 700 °C / 1292 °F |
| Boiling Point | 1737 °C / 3159 °F |
| Electron Configuration | [Rn] 7s² |
| Abundance in Earth's Crust | Trace amounts |
⚠️ Safety & Handling
Radium is extremely radioactive and hazardous to health. It is over a million times more radioactive than uranium. Because it is chemically similar to calcium, the body can absorb it into bones, where its radiation causes immense damage, leading to cancer and other diseases. It must only be handled in specialized shielded laboratories with remote equipment.