Marie Curie: Radium Essay

In the early 1900’s, the discovery of a luminescent material, radium, arrived on the scene to the delight of a fascinated and eager public. At first, it seemed to be a miracle remedy, not just harmless but even beneficial. However, when a multitude of watch dial painters were exposed to this substance on an extremely consistent basis, the negative effects began bubbling to the surface. These “Radium Girls” were unknowingly consuming a potentially lethal substance and would be the first victims of radium poisoning and radioactivity. Not many people knew about the dangers of radioactive substances or radium poisoning and many others had made judgements that were clouded by the perfection of the glowing sensation. In spite of this, the horrific afflictions that the Radium Girls endured helped shift the public perspective of radium from “wonder drug” to “pitiless poison” and started the country on a path to regulating the handling of radioactive

Marie became a professor at Albert Einstein College in 1960, and she continued to teach and carry on with her pioneering research there. Among the studies were the effects of cigarette smoking on a person’s lungs. A year after scoring a job as a professor, she married her love, Vincent Clark. She continued her duties as a professor and chemist until her retirement in 1986.

Marie Daly was born April 16, 1921. She grew up in Corona, Queens, New York. Her family believed in the power of education. That's why she spent most of her time in school and studying her books. She enjoyed reading a lot. Marie was educated at Hunter College High School. Hunter College High School

When Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896, it inspired Marie and Pierre to investigate it further. They researched a lot of substances for any signs of radioactivity, and discovered something that was more radioactive than uranium. They discovered radium, an element that damaged tissue, so they used that to fight against cancer. “They found that the mineral pitchblende was more radioactive than uranium and concluded that it must contain other radioactive substances. From it they managed to extract two previously unknown elements, polonium and radium, both more radioactive than uranium” (Nobel Media). These discoveries led to radium being used to treat cancer and other diseases, and them getting their first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. After Pierre passed away, she continued with her own studies. Marie successfully isolated radium and proved its existence. She also studied the properties and compounds of these radioactive elements. “She also documented the properties of the radioactive elements and their compounds. Radioactive compounds became important as sources of radiation in both scientific experiments and in the field of medicine, where they are used to treat tumors” (Nobel Media). This discovery led to the further development of X-rays and her receiving her second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. Marie Curie was the first woman ever to win two Nobel Prizes in two fields and in multiple sciences, two incredible

The pioneering work of Becquerel in 1896 (the discovery of uranium), and the Curies (who subsequently discovered radium and polonium and the energy and heat given off by these new elements which they called radioactivity) led to the remarkable work of Ernest Rutherford. He was a physicist, whose experiments showed that some heavier elements spontaneously changed or decayed into lighter elements (unstable 'parent' elements giving off protons and neutrons to form a 'daughter' element) through the process of radioactivity. He discovered that radioactive materials decay at a very predictable rate, and that lead was the final decay product of uranium. Using Rutherford's ideas, Bertram Boltwood pioneered a method of radiometric dating in 1907. He hypothesized that since he knew how long it takes uranium to break down, he could measure the proportions of lead in uranium ores, and use his calculations to date how long those ores had existed,

who said “All this colonial business is a sham, but we need it for elections”

He goes off and tells the story of Marie Cruz’s findings of new elements and her deep love for chemistry. Although Marie passes away, her legacy lives on through her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie. Irene and her husband found a way to cultivate radioactive elements which allowed her to earn Nobel Prize. Kean states that a great injustice was done to Lise Meitner, her discovery of protactinium was not awarded with a Nobel Prize. Ch.

Radium City is a 1920s documentary about the Radium Girls of Ottawa, Illinois. These young women were in high school or just graduated from high school and went to work at Radium Dial; it was a plant where watches and clock dial were painted with radium. In order for the women to paint the best fine point font, they were to bring the paintbrush to a point with their lips, dip the brush into the radium, and begin painting the numbers. The watches and clocks were painted with radium because it was known to glow in the dark, so the young women also painted their faces, and even some painted their teeth, with the radium. During this time period, it was unclear to the public the danger of the radioactive chemical. It was not until these young women began to

My paper is about Irene Joliot – Curie the Nobel – Peace Prize winner that created the first artificial radioactive element. Her life was very successful and fulfilling. Irene’s life was very successful, because she accomplished many things and inspired future scientist. Her and her mom’s work was very useful in World War I. Her work with radiation also became very important to new discoveries of atoms.

The story of radium girls has to begin with the discovery of radium in 1898 by

Q11. Marie curie took many leads in the world of science, one of them being; she won 2 Nobel Prizes in her lifetime and had a high place of honor in French history. Her study of radium was especially important, helping to change preconceived ideas as to how radioactivity worked. Even though she had opened maybe one of the largest Pandora’s Box and unleashed mortal danger to the world.

Curie thus began studying uranium radiation and made it her doctoral thesis. With the aid of an electrometer built by Pierre, Marie measured the strength of the radiation emitted form uranium compounds and found it proportional to the uranium content, constant over a long period of time and influenced by external conditions. She detected a similar immutable radiation in the compounds of thorium. While checking these results, she made the discovery that uranium pitchblende and the mineral chalcolite emitted four times as much radiation as their uranium content. She realized that unknown elements, even more radioactive then uranium must be present.

     Pierre was so interested in Marie's work, that he joined forces with her. Her research had revealed that two uranium ores, pitchblende and chalcolite were much more radioactive that pure uranium. Marie concluded that the highly radioactive nature of these ores may possibly be due to undiscovered elements.

This is what led Curie to take Becquerel’s work a few steps further and conduct her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays were constant no matter what form or condition of the uranium. She theorized the rays came from the atomic structure. This idea was revolutionary and created its own field in science, known as the atomic physics, this is when Marie coined the word “radioactivity” to describe the phenomena. Even when they had their first daughter Irene in 1897 there work did not slow. Pierre then stopped his own studies to help Marie with her new discovery of radioactivity. In 1898 they discovered a new radioactive element. They named it polonium after Marie’s native country, Poland. They detected the presence of another radioactive element and called this radium. In 1902 they had extracted pure radium to prove its existence as a unique chemical element.

With her experiments, she became the first woman in France to get a doctorate. Curie decided to continue Henri Becquerel’s experiments with X-rays. She came up with the groundbreaking idea that the rays were actually an atomic property. The paper she wrote reporting her discoveries had to be presented through her professor because women weren’t allowed to address the Academy of Sciences. With this, she continued her work to find new elements. First, she found polonium, which is named for her home country, and then she discovered radium. Pierre and Marie’s greatest work was done in a run-down shed. They worked from 1898 to 1902. The Curies could have made a fortune if they patented their process of extracting and refining radium, but they decided share their knowledge with the world.