Radium
Radio (Ra, Z=88)
- Date
- 1898 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France (École de Physique et Chimie)
- Credited to
- Marie and Pierre Curie (with Gustave Bémont)
- People
- 👤 Marie Curie1867–1934👤 Pierre Curie1859–1906
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
The Curies identified it in December 1898 in pitchblende by its intense radioactivity; Marie isolated the metal in 1910 after processing tonnes of ore.
Two Nobel Prizes for Marie Curie (1903 and 1911) linked to this work.
What it led to
- Cancer radiotherapy (curietherapy)
- Luminous paints and the 'Radium Girls' scandal
- Alpha-particle sources for Rutherford's nuclear physics
Built on
- Discovery of polonium
- Joachimsthal pitchblende
Made possible
- Brachytherapy
- Alpha source for Rutherford's experiment