The Discovery of Radioactivity and its Effects Essay

The beginnings of the Nuclear Age started when Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt warning him of a dangerous weapon the Nazis had begun researching, known as the atomic bomb. (1) Though, when President Roosevelt first read this letter, he was too preoccupied with events in Europe to be bothered with such ideas. He at the time did not take the creation of such weapon to seriously, nor did he believe America had the resources for such a task. (2) Finally, on October 19, 1939 President Roosevelt wrote back to Einstein stating that the United States had begun to research the power of uranium. (2) With the help of the British, whom reluctantly gave the United States leadership on this project, in June of 1942 the Manhattan Project had begun, though most of the world had no idea that this was even happening, not even Vice President Truman. (2)

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,

Radiation was discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen during a scientific experiment. Roentgen, classified radioactivity into three concepts: negative, positive, and electrically neutral. Radiation- is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. Technology is created with radiation and humans are exposed to the aspect daily with tons or material; especially in the doctor’s office and everywhere else.

The U.S’s research in nuclear weapons in the 1940’s contributed to ending the second world war as well as led the way to bountiful ideas in scientific research that we still use today.

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.

During the early 1940’s atomic science had just began to mature. Many people were exploring the powerful mystery of the atom. Two of those people were Eugene Booth and John Dunning, who, in 1941, synthesized uranium-235. Immense scientific growth followed their contribution, since it allowed for nuclear fission (Griffith). In the years following this discovery, nuclear science took a turn. Once only used as a constructive power source, atoms began being explored for their destructive power. In 1942 the United States government funded the Manhattan Project that sole goal was to develop a nuclear bomb. The initiator for this endeavor was surprisingly the famous scientist Albert Einstein. He wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt , and tipped him off

With the development of atomic energy and the atomic bomb, radiation sources were becoming more numerous, and knowledge of the pathways of radiation and accumulation points for radiation in ecosystems was needed.

Before the Manhattan Project, in the beginning there were many advancements in understanding made in the world of physics. These resulted in the recognition of nuclear fission and its potential as an energy source and as a potential weapon. Of these advancements none was more central and important than the development of the nuclear model of the atom, which by the year of 1932 contained a nucleus containing most of the mass of an atom in the form of two particles, protons and neutrons. This nucleus was surrounded by an electron shell. Previously it was thought that atoms were the smallest form of matter therefore ultimately stable and indivisible. However, in 1919 Ernest Rutherford was able to break apart the nucleus of nitrogen with

Principle”. The French team of Pierre and Marie Curie who are known as the parents of nuclear physics came to the realization that the atom has a core, or nucleus. It became apparent that different laws of physics govern the nucleus. In Cambridge England, Sir J.J. Thomson who in 1897 discovered the electron and his pupil Lord Ernest Rutherford discovered the proton. The history of the atomic age was coming right along on a steady pace then in 1905 Albert Einstein wrote the mass-energy conversion equation, and things started to progress very rapidly. In 1932 Sir James Chadwick discovered the neutron, this rovided an ideal projectile for splitting the atom. The final clue to the neutron and atomic energy was when an observation was noted that a peculiar property of the radiation emitted when beryllium is bombarded with alpha particles. In 1938 the discovery of fission of the uranium nucleus by neutron bombardment. In 1940 President Roosevelt organized the National Defense Research Committee, which was determined to develop an atomic bomb. Development and construction of the atomic bomb was the most closely guarded secret in scientific history. This was a

In 1899 Rutherford discovered radioactivity as well as alpha, beta and gamma rays, these were found while he was performing studies on the absorption of radioactivity, which was done by using thin sheets of metal and two components that he found, alpha and beta. Alpha radiation is absorbed by a centimetre of a few thousandths of metal foil. Beta radiation can progress through 100 times as much foil before it will be absorbed. While Rutherford found the two rays he yet found another shortly after called the gamma ray which can puncture as much as several centimetres of lead.

Also while he was there, he was invited by Professor J.J Thomason to study the conductivity of gases, resulting in a paper about dividing atoms and molecules into ions. This lead Rutherford on to taking a closer look at ion-producing radiations and he discovered that putting uranium near foil will result in one type of radiation being easily soaked up or blocked, while another type had no problem penetrating the same foil. Then, he labeled the two radiation types “alpha” and “beta.” He then found out that the alpha particle was the same as the nucleus of the helium atom, and the beta was the same as an electron or composition. He took a professorship at McGill University of Montreal and left Cambridge in 1902. In 1903, he and Fredrick Soddy introduced their disintegration theory of radioactivity, and it claimed that radioactive energy was emitted from within an atom and that when alpha and beta particles were emitted at the same time they caused a chemical change across elements. Rutherford and Bertam Borden Boltwood, continued to categorize radioactive elements into what they called a “decay series.” Rutherford was honored with discovering the radioactive gas radon while at McGill. He achieved fame for his contributions to understanding of radioelements, and published many magazine

As more information becomes available to the public about the detrimental effect of excessive radiation on human health, the United States government has entrusted the NRC with protecting of the public from exposure to nuclear products. To this end, the NRC is constantly putting out

Radioactivity has been around since the 1800s. It is very popular in the medical field. It is used my many professionals to help diagnose and treat people every single day. Although it does have some advantages and disadvantages, people still use it to this day.

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.