Element #88

Radium

alkaline earth solid Discovered 1898

226 Atomic Mass (u)

700 C Melting Point

1737 C Boiling Point

5.5 g/cm3 Density

0.9 Electronegativity

[Rn] 7s2 Electron Config

7 Period

2 Group

📖 About Radium

Discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 from pitchblende ore. Radium glows faintly blue-green due to its intense radioactivity exciting air molecules. Marie Curie died of aplastic anemia caused by decades of radiation exposure. Radium was once used in glow-in-the-dark watch paint until workers (the Radium Girls) began dying of radiation-induced cancers.

🔧 Uses and Applications

Historical: luminous paint for watch dials (now banned)
Historical: cancer treatment (now replaced by better options)
Neutron sources (radium-beryllium mixtures)
Geological age dating

💡 Did You Know?

Fact: Marie Curie's notebooks, personal belongings, and even her cookbook are still so radioactive they must be stored in lead-lined boxes at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Researchers who wish to view them must sign a waiver acknowledging the radiation risk.