Discovery of Radium:

Radium is one the of the few elements that constantly emit invisible radiations. Such elements are called radioactive elements and the radiations they emits are called "radioactive" rays.

Radium Metal

 There are three types of radioactive rays-alpha, beta and gamma. Radium, due to the emission of the radioactive rays, disintegrates and finally gets converted into lead. Half of this radioactive element gets converted into lead in 1622 years. 

This is called the 'half life' of the radioactive element. In the next 1622 years, half of the remaining substance decays into lead. This process continues indefinitely. The radioactive rays are so powerful that they can pass through different kinds of substances including the human body. These rays are very useful in the treatment of cancer. Do you know who discovered radium?

Marie Curie 

All the credit of the discovery of radium goes to a married couple, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie. The story of its discovery is very interesting.

In 1896 Henri Becquerel discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity. He found that the uranium emits a kind of invisible radiations which are even more powerful than the X-rays. Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, in 1898, also found that thorium also emits similar radiations. They also thought that pitchblende, which is the ore of uranium, must contain some other radioactive substance too. 

 They started refining pitchblende in order to obtain the new radioactive element. They had to work in a tin-shed because they could not afford a proper laboratory on account of limited means. Without caring for rains and storms, they worked day and night Finally, they succeeded in extracting 100 milligrams of radium from several tons of pitchblende. They found that this new element was much more powerful than uranium.

Pure radium is white in colour. It is quite heavy and thousands of times costlier than gold. The quantity of pure radium available in the world is very small. Radioactive rays are very harmful to the body. If handled carelessly its radioactive rays can wound the body. So be careful guys. 

"Nuclear Power Is One Hell Of A Way To Boil Water" - Albert Einstein.