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=Colin's Home - Radium =

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 * < [[image:Radium.png width="245" height="207"]] ||
 * = *  Element Name: ﻿ ﻿ Radium  ||
 * < * Symbol: Ra ||< * Melting Point: 700 o C ||
 * < * Atomic Number: 88 ||< * Boiling Point: 1737 o C ||
 * < * Atomic Mass: 226 ||< * Radium has 2 valence electrons, ||

Properties

 * Color: Radium is almost entirely white, but when exposed to air it turns black
 * Radium is luminescent when it is purified
 * Radioactive
 * Very reactive. Once bonded it is hard to seperate

The Life of Radium
Radium was discovered 113 years ago in 1898 by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie. These two scientists were the first to discover radioactivity which occurs within an unstable isotope of an atom. The first element which they learned was radioactive was uranium. Radium forms when the nucleus of a uranium or thorium atom decays. Radium is extremely radioactive! Its most stable isotope, radium 226, has a half life of 1602 years and once it decays it forms radon gas.

Uses
Another common use for radium, and various other radioactive elements, was in revigators. Revigators were small water containers with a spout which's inside walls were made out of uranium and radium. When water was put in the elements would release radon gas, which is very poisonous, into the water. The companies who manufactured the revigators claimed that radioactivity was the missing ingredient of water and could keep you healthy throughout your whole life. Who Would Want Their Boots Shining Anyway? ||
 * Advertising:** By the early 1900s radium had become immensly popular. No one knew that it was so dangerous. Because of its ability to glow, radium became a very common word used for toothpastes, hair products and ointments to signify that they would make you shine. However none of these actually contained radium because it comes in very low quantities on the Earth.
 * Real Uses:** Radium was used however in things such as luminescent watch hands and various gauges.These glowing hands were very popular throughout the early 20th century and continued to be used in World War II for visibility at night. Eventually companies stopped using radium because so many of their workers died from exposure to too much radiation.
 * Medical Uses:** Radium was also used to treat cancer. Small amounts would be placed in the body next to the cancerous cells and the radiation would help to treat the problem.
 * < [[image:http://periodictable.com/Samples/088.20/s7s.JPG width="136" height="136" align="left"]] ||
 * < Don't Worry, It's Not Real.

Where It's Found
Radium can be found almost anywhere that uranium is found because radium 226 is formed from the decay of uranium 238. Radium is also found in almost every single animal, rock, water, or plant in very small amounts.

Bohr Model

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