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Radium Hill, South Australia
Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather than oxygen) upon exposure to air, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride (Ra3N2). All isotopes of radium are radioactive, the most stable isotope being radium-226 with a half-life of 1600 years. When radium decays, it emits ionizing radiation as a by-product, which can excite fluorescent chemicals and cause radioluminescence. Radium, in the form of radium chloride, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 from ore mined at Jáchymov. They extracted the radium compound from uraninite and published the discovery at the French Academy of Sciences five days later. Radium was isolated in its metallic state by Marie Curie and André-Louis Debierne through the electrolysis of radium chloride in 1911. In nature, radium is f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemical Element
A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler substances by any chemical reaction. The number of protons in the nucleus is the defining property of an element, and is referred to as its atomic number (represented by the symbol ''Z'') – all atoms with the same atomic number are atoms of the same element. Almost all of the baryonic matter of the universe is composed of chemical elements (among rare exceptions are neutron stars). When different elements undergo chemical reactions, atoms are rearranged into new compounds held together by chemical bonds. Only a minority of elements, such as silver and gold, are found uncombined as relatively pure native element minerals. Nearly all other naturally occurring elements occur in the Earth as compounds or mixtures. Air is primarily a mixture o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uraninite
Uraninite, formerly pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes the mineral to contain oxides of lead and trace amounts of helium. It may also contain thorium and rare-earth elements. Overview Uraninite used to be known as pitchblende (from '' pitch'', because of its black color, and ''blende'', from ''blenden'' meaning "to deceive", a term used by German miners to denote minerals whose density suggested metal content, but whose exploitation, at the time they were named, was either unknown or not economically feasible). The mineral has been known at least since the 15th century from silver mines in the Ore Mountains, on the German/Czech border. The type locality is the historic mining and spa town known as Joachimsthal, the modern day Jáchymov, on the Czech side of the mountains, where F. E. Brückma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volatility (chemistry)
In chemistry, volatility is a material quality which describes how readily a substance vaporizes. At a given temperature and pressure, a substance with high volatility is more likely to exist as a vapour, while a substance with low volatility is more likely to be a liquid or solid. Volatility can also describe the tendency of a vapor to condense into a liquid or solid; less volatile substances will more readily condense from a vapor than highly volatile ones. Differences in volatility can be observed by comparing how fast substances within a group evaporate (or sublimate in the case of solids) when exposed to the atmosphere. A highly volatile substance such as rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) will quickly evaporate, while a substance with low volatility such as vegetable oil will remain condensed. In general, solids are much less volatile than liquids, but there are some exceptions. Solids that sublimate (change directly from solid to vapor) such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barium
Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. The most common minerals of barium are baryte ( barium sulfate, BaSO4) and witherite (barium carbonate, BaCO3). The name ''barium'' originates from the alchemical derivative "baryta", from Greek (), meaning 'heavy'. ''Baric'' is the adjectival form of barium. Barium was identified as a new element in 1774, but not reduced to a metal until 1808 with the advent of electrolysis. Barium has few industrial applications. Historically, it was used as a getter for vacuum tubes and in oxide form as the emissive coating on indirectly heated cathodes. It is a component of YBCO (high-temperature superconductors) and electroceramics, and is added to steel and cast iron to reduce the size of carbon grains within the microstructure. Barium compounds ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congener (chemistry)
In chemistry, congeners are chemical substances "related to each other by origin, structure, or function". Common origin and structure Any significant quantity of a polyhalogenated compound is by default a blend of multiple molecule types because each molecule forms independently, and chlorine and bromine do not strongly select which site(s) they bond to. *Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of 209 congeners. * Polybrominated biphenyls and polychlorinated diphenyl ethers are also families of 209 congeners. Similarly polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, polychlorinated terphenyls, polychlorinated naphthalene, polychloro phenoxy phenol, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) ( pentabromodiphenyl ether, octabromodiphenyl ether, decabromodiphenyl ether), etc. are also groups of congeners. Common origin *Congener (alcohol), substances other than alcohol (desirable or undesirable) also produced during fermentation. *Congeners of oleic acids ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioactive Quackery
Radioactive quackery is quackery that improperly promotes radioactivity as a therapy for illnesses. Unlike radiotherapy, which is the scientifically sound use of radiation for the destruction of cells (usually cancer cells), quackery pseudo-scientifically promotes involving radioactive substances as a method of healing for cells and tissues. It was most popular during the early 20th century, after the discovery in 1896 of radioactive decay. The practice has widely declined, but is still actively practised by some. Notable examples * Radithor, a solution of radium salts, which was claimed by its developer William J. A. Bailey to have curative properties. Industrialist Eben Byers died in 1932 from ingesting it in large quantities throughout 1927–1930. * One German brand of toothpaste from prior to the Second World War, Doramad Radioactive Toothpaste, contained small amounts of thorium that was a byproduct in the manufacture of gas lamp mantles. The advertising for this toot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioluminescent
Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation such as alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays. Radioluminescence is used as a low level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage. Radioluminescent paint is occasionally used for clock hands and instrument dials, enabling them to be read in the dark. Radioluminescence is also sometimes seen around high-power radiation sources, such as nuclear reactors and radioisotopes. Mechanism Radioluminescence occurs when an incoming particle of ionizing radiation collides with an atom or molecule, exciting an orbital electron to a higher energy level. The particle usually comes from the radioactive decay of an atom of a radioisotope, an isotope of an element which is radioactive. The electron then returns to its ground energy level by emitting the extra energy as a photon of light. A chemical that releases light of a particular color when str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting from within the body rather than radiation that is generated by external sources like X-rays. In addition, nuclear medicine scans differ from radiology, as the emphasis is not on imaging anatomy, but on the function. For such reason, it is called a physiological imaging modality. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans are the two most common imaging modalities in nuclear medicine. Diagnostic medical imaging Diagnostic In nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceuticals are taken internally, for example, through inhalation, intravenously or orally. Then, external detectors (gamma cameras) capture and form images from the radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals. This process ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Roles Of The Elements
A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. Phosphorus and sulfur are also common essential elements, essential to the structure of nucleic acids and amino acids, respectively. Chlorine, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus have important roles due to their ready ionization and utility in regulating membrane activity and osmotic potential. The remaining elements found in living things are primarily metals that play a role in determining protein structure. Examples include iron, essential to hemoglobin; and magnesium, essential to chlorophyll. Some elements are essential only to certain taxonomic groups of organisms, particularly the prokaryotes. For instance, the lanthanide series rare earths are essential for methanog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorium
Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high melting point. Thorium is an electropositive actinide whose chemistry is dominated by the +4 oxidation state; it is quite reactive and can ignite in air when finely divided. All known thorium isotopes are unstable. The most stable isotope, 232Th, has a half-life of 14.05 billion years, or about the age of the universe; it decays very slowly via alpha decay, starting a decay chain named the thorium series that ends at stable 208 Pb. On Earth, thorium and uranium are the only significantly radioactive elements that still occur naturally in large quantities as primordial elements. Thorium is estimated to be over three times as abundant as uranium in the Earth's crust, and is chiefly refined from monazite sands as a by-product of extracti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly radioactive because all isotopes of uranium are unstable; the half-lives of its naturally occurring isotopes range between 159,200 years and 4.5 billion years. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. In nature, uranium is found as uranium-238 (99. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. The voltage that is needed for electrolysis to occur is called the decomposition potential. The word "lysis" means to separate or break, so in terms, electrolysis would mean "breakdown via electricity". Etymology The word "electrolysis" was introduced by Michael Faraday in 1834, using the Greek words "amber", which since the 17th century was associated with electrical phenomena, and ' meaning "dissolution". Nevertheless, electrolysis, as a tool to study chemical reactions and obtain pure elements, precedes the coinage of the term and formal description by Faraday. History In the early nineteenth century, William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle sought to further Volt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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