Marie Curie
The Polish-born French physicist was famous for her work on radioactivity, becoming the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 (for Physics), and later becoming the only woman to win a Nobel in two different fields when, in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Marie Curie and Irène Curie on radium
RADIUM
[Radium] is an element of atomic weight 226, the highest term in the alkaline earth series, calcium, strontium, barium. It is a metal having many analogies with barium and it is also a “radioactive substance”, i.e., a substance that suffers a spontaneous disintegration accompanied by the emission of radiation (see RADIOACTIVITY). This radioactive property confers on radium a special importance for scientific purposes or for medical use, and is also the cause of the extreme rarity of the element. Though radium is only one of numerous radioactive substances, being neither the most radioactive nor the most abundant, its rate of decay and the nature of the products of its disintegration have proved particularly favourable in the applications of radioactivity, and make it the most important of radioelements.
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Spectrum.—If we do not consider the chemical actions of the radiations it emits, radium has exactly the properties that can be expected from its place in chemical classification. Radium is placed by its atomic weight 226, in the second column of the Mendelyeev table. With an atomic number 88, it is the last term of the alkaline earth series. The salts of radium are colourless and nearly all soluble in water; the sulphate and carbonate are insoluble. Radium chloride is insoluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid and in alcohol. Radium and barium salts are isomorphous.
Preparation of Radium.—Metallic radium has been prepared in the same way as metallic barium, by electrolysis of a radium salt with a mercury cathode, mercury being eliminated by heating the amalgam in dry hydrogen. The metal is white and melts at about 700°. It attacks water and is rapidly altered by the contact of air. The atomic weight can be determined by the methods used for barium, e.g., by weighing the anhydrous radium chloride and the equivalent silver chloride or bromide.
Optical Spectrum.—The optical spectrum is composed, as with the other alkaline earth metals, of a relatively small number of lines of great intensity; the strongest line in the limit of the violet spectrum is 3814.6Ã…, and this line is a very sensitive test for the presence of radium; but spectral analysis is little used in the detection of radioelements, the radioactive properties offering a considerably higher degree of sensitivity. The high frequency spectrum is in accordance with the prediction for the element of atomic number 88.
RADIOACTIVE PROPERTIES
Radioactive Elements in General.—The theory of radioactive transformation has been established by Rutherford and Soddy (see RADIOACTIVITY). If n is the number of atoms of a radioelement, the proportion of the atoms destroyed in a certain time t is always the same, whatever n may be; the number of atoms decreases with the time t according to an exponential law, n = n0e-λt where λ is the radioactive constant of the substance.
The reciprocal of λ is called the “average life” of the element; the time T necessary for the transformation of the half of the atoms is called the “period” and related to the constant λ by the expression T = logε2/λ.
Radioactive substances emit three kinds of rays known as α-, β- and γ-rays. The α-rays are helium nuclei carrying each a positive charge equal to double that of the elementary charge; they are expelled from the nuclei of the radioactive atoms with a great velocity (about 1.5 X 109 to 2.3 X 109 cm./sec.). The β-rays are electrons of various velocities which may approach the velocity of light. The γ-rays constitute an electromagnetic radiation of the same kind as light or X-rays, but their wave-length is generally much smaller and may be as short as 0.01Å. While the emission of some radioelements consists almost entirely of α-rays whose penetrating power is very small, other radioelements emit β- and γ-rays which are able to penetrate a considerable thickness of matter.
Uranium-Radium Family.—Radium is a member of the uranium family, i.e., one of the elements resulting from the transformation of the uranium atom; its period is about 1,700 years. […]
The atoms of each element are formed out of the destroyed atoms of the preceding element. None of these atoms can exist in nature otherwise than in uranium minerals, unless recently transferred from such minerals by a chemical or physical process. When separated from the uranium mineral they must disappear, their destruction not being compensated by their production. Only uranium and thorium are radioelements of so long a life that they have been able to last through geological times without any known production.
According to the laws of radioactive transformation, in very old minerals a state of equilibrium is attained where the ratio of the number of the atoms of the different substances is equal to the ratio of their average life. The ratio radium/uranium is about 3.40 X 10-7 in the older minerals; accordingly we cannot expect to find a mineral containing a high proportion of radium. Yet pure radium can be prepared in ponderable quantities while the other radioelements, except the slowly disintegrating uranium and thorium, are not capable of preparation in quantity, most of them because they exist in much smaller quantities. The quicker the disintegration of a radioactive substance, the smaller is its proportion among the earth’s minerals, but the greater its activity. Thus radium is several millions of times more active than uranium and 5,000 times less than polonium.
Radiation of a Radium Tube.—Small quantities of radium are frequently kept in sealed glass tubes called “radium tubes.” Radium emits only α-rays and a feeble β-radiation; the penetrating radiation emitted by a radium tube comes from the disintegration products gradually accumulated by the radioactive transformations of radium; first, radon or radium emanation, a radioactive gas, the next term to xenon in the series of inert gases; secondly, radium A, B, C, called “active deposit of rapid change”; thirdly, radium D, E and radium F or polonium, called “active deposit of slow change”; finally, inactive lead, and also helium generated in the form of α-rays.
The strong penetrating radiation of a radium tube is emitted by radium B and C. When pure radium salt is sealed in a tube, the activity increases during about a month, till a state of equilibrium is attained between radium, radon and the active deposit of rapid change, when the production of each of these elements is compensed by their destruction. The penetrating radiation consists in β-rays and in γ-rays, the latter particularly known by its valuable use in therapy.
The quantity of radon in equilibrium with one gramme of radium is called the “curie.” If the radon is extracted and sealed separately in a tube, radium A, B, C, will accumulate and the penetrating radiation for one curie of radon will be the same as for one gramme of radium. But the activity of the radon tube decreases to half its value in 3.82 days, the period of radon, while the activity of a radium tube remains practically constant after equilibrium has been attained; the decrease is only 0.4% in 10 years.
Effects of Radiation.—Radiation of radium produces all the ordinary effects of rays (see RADIOACTIVITY); ionisation of the gases, continuous production of heat, excitation of the phosphorescence of certain substances (zinc sulphide, etc.), colouration of glass, chemical actions (decomposition of water for instance), photographic actions, biologic actions. Radium compounds observed in the dark exhibit a spontaneous luminosity, which is particularly bright in freshly prepared chloride or bromide, and is determined by the action on the salt of its own radiation.
Activity of Radium.—The α-rays belonging to radium itself have a range of 3.4 cm. in air at 15°C. and normal pressure. The number of α particles emitted by radium was measured by different methods of numeration (scintillations or counting chamber); the result varies from 3.40 X 1010 to 3.72 X 1010 particles per sec. and per gram of radium; from this data the average life of radium can be deduced. Three other groups of α-rays, of ranges 4.1 cm., 4.7 cm. and 7 cm. are emitted by radon and the active deposit, radium A, B, C. The heat produced by radium itself is about 25 calories per hour and per gramme. For a tube of radium in equilibrium with the disintegration products of rapid change, the production of heat is about 137 calories per hour and per gramme. This heating effect is principally due to the absorption of the energy of the α-rays.
DISCOVERY OF RADIUM
In the year 1896 H. Becquerel discovered that uranium emits spontaneously a radiation that produces an impression on a photographic plate through a sheet of black paper, and ionises the air. Mme. P. Curie proved that this property, later called radioactivity, is characteristic of the atom of uranium and is possessed also by thorium. But she found that uranium minerals were much more active than could be predicted from their uranium content. By the hypothesis of the existence of a very radioactive unknown substance present in very small quantity, she undertook, with Pierre Curie, research for this substance in the uranium mineral called pitchblende.
The method they used in that work was entirely new; the result of the separations made by the ordinary process of chemical analysis was controlled by tests of the activity of every fraction; the activity was measured quantitatively by the current produced by the substance when placed in a special “ionisation chamber.” Thus concentration of the radioactive property was traced in two fractions of the treatment, the fraction containing bismuth and the fraction containing barium.
In July 1898, P. Curie and Mme. Curie published the discovery of polonium, the element accompanying bismuth; in Dec. 1898, P. Curie, Mme. Curie and G. Bémont published the discovery of radium. Though the existence of these new substances was certain, they were present only in a very small proportion in the products obtained at that time; yet Demarçay was able to detect in the barium-radium mixture three new lines belonging to radium.
Only in 1902 did Mme. Curie succeed in preparing the first decigram of pure radium salt and made a determination of its atomic weight. The separation of barium was made by a process of fractional crystallisation. The work proved exceedingly difficult in practice on account of the great quantities of material that had to be treated. Later Mme. Curie made a new determination of its atomic weight and prepared metallic radium.
The new method used by P. Curie and Mme. Curie for the discovery of polonium and radium—chemical analysis controlled by measurements of radioactivity—has become fundamental for the chemistry of radioelements; it has served since for the discovery of many other radioactive substances. The discovery of radium and the preparation of the pure element has had very great importance in laying the basis of the new science of radioactivity. The identification of its spectrum and the determination of its atomic weight have been decisive facts for convincing chemists of the reality of the new elements.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF RADIUM
Radium has been manufactured in several countries. The first factory was started in France in 1904, not six years after the discovery of radium.
Minerals.—Radium is to be found in all uranium ores; however only those that have been mined in sufficient quantity for the extraction will be here mentioned.
Pitchblende or Uraninite.—Uranium oxide more or less impure. Mines in Bohemia and Belgian Congo.
Autunite.—Double phosphate of uranyle (UO2) and calcium. Mines in Portugal, United States and elsewhere.
Carnotite.—Vanadate of uranyle and potassium. Mines in Colorado, Australia and elsewhere.
Betafite.—Niobo-titanate of uranium and calcium, with rare earths. Mines in Madagascar.
The first radium was prepared from pitchblende from Bohemia. Later the principal exploitation was that of carnotite in Colorado and of autunite in Portugal. At the present time the most important supply is extracted in Belgium from the pitchblende of Belgian Congo. A mineral containing more than one decigram of radium per ton is considered as very rich. Minerals were treated down to a few milligrams per ton.
Industrial Treatment.—The method of industrial extraction of radium, in its essential points, is still the original method that was used and described by Mme. P. Curie. The operation can be divided in three parts: dissolution of the mineral, purification of a barium-radium salt, separation of radium from barium by fractional crystallisation.
The treatment for dissolving the mineral differs from one mineral to another. Autunite and certain carnotites are soluble in hydrochloric acid, but nearly all other minerals must be attacked by more energetic agents, for instance with the aid of sodium carbonate.
When the mineral does not contain much barium, a certain quantity of barium salt is added in order to carry away the radium. The barium-radium mixture is separated. With some variations in the mode of separation of uranium and lead (always present in the mineral) or eventually vanadium, niobium, etc., the operation consists in separating barium-radium by precipitation as sulphates and redissolving these sulphates by ebullition with sodium carbonate followed by a hydrochloric attack. Generally the radium-barium mixtures pass more than once through the state of sulphates.
After the purification of the barium-radium chloride, radium is concentrated by a process of fractional crystallisation, radium chloride, less soluble than barium chloride, being concentrated in the crystals. After this first enrichment the active salt is again purified particularly by the elimination of a residue of lead, and is transformed into bromide for the continuation of fractional crystallisation (the use of bromide was suggested by Giesel). The final crystallisations are made on small quantities of salt in very acid solutions. All the operations are controlled by the ionisation method, to avoid the loss of radium. At the end of the purification, great care must be taken to protect the chemist from the action of the radiations, especially at the moment of the filling of the tubes or apparatus with the radium salt. The radon liberated in the room during the fractionation must be eliminated by a constant aeration.
Mesothorium.—Some minerals of uranium contain also thorium. In these minerals radium is mixed with another radioelement, mesothorium I, isotope of radium. Mesothorium I is much more active than radium, but has less commercial value for the same activity, because its life is much shorter (6.7 years). Mesothorium can be used instead of radium in certain cases.
MEASUREMENTS
Measurement of the quantities of radium is very important for scientific as well as for commercial purposes. The quantities to be measured vary greatly. For instance, the tubes of radium prepared for medical use contain in general from 1 to 100 milligrammes, but radium has often to be dosed in natural waters or minerals, where the quantities are of the order of 10-7 gr. and even down to 10-12 gr. per litre of water or per gram of mineral.
For very small quantities, only an ionisation method of measurement can prove successful. For relatively great quantities, radium could be weighed but it would require a careful purification of the radium salt and the precision would in general be very unsatisfactory, considering the high price (about £10 the milligramme of this element). Here also, therefore, ionisation measurements are used for the sake of accuracy.
For quantities ranging from about one-tenth of a mg. to the greatest quantities available the radium must be sealed in a tube where radon and the active deposit accumulate. Measurements are made by comparing the ionisation produced in an ionisation chamber by the penetrating rays from the tube containing the unknown amount of radium and from a standard tube placed in the same conditions. A correction is made for differences of form or of absorbing power of the two containers.
The sale of radium is made according to the certificates delivered by national technical laboratories: National Physical Laboratory (London), Radium Institute (Paris), Radium Institute (Vienna), Physikalische-technische Reichsanstalt (Berlin), U.S. Bureau of Standards (Washington). Discrimination between radium and mesothorium I in sealed tubes is rather difficult. For this purpose, of commercial interest, scientific methods have been devised, based on the different penetrating power of the γ-rays, or on the different production of heat.
An international radium standard was prepared in 1911 by Mme. P. Curie. A quantity (about 22 milligrammes) of very pure radium chloride was exactly weighed and sealed into a thin tube of glass. This standard is kept at the International Bureau at Sèvres, and secondary standards, carefully compared with this one, have been prepared for different countries.
Determination of the very small quantities of radium contained in a few grams of a mineral, or a few litres of mineral water, is made by measuring the quantity of radon it produces in a definite amount of time. The mineral is dissolved and radon removed by passing a slow current of air through the solution, then after a few days, the radon accumulated in the solution contained in a close vessel is conveyed to a special ionisation chamber, where the current produced by the α-rays of radon and radium A, B, C, is measured. This allows calculation of the amount of radium in the solution, if the ionisation chamber has been standardised by a similar operation made with a known quantity of radium. For the standardisation a very dilute solution is prepared by taking a small definite fraction of α solution containing a quantity of radium directly measurable by the penetrating rays. To facilitate the standardisation of apparatus, technical laboratories deliver standardised solutions or samples of radium-barium salt containing a known proportion of radium. The method of quantitative determination is exceedingly sensitive and can be used for amounts of radium from 10-6 gr. to 10-10 grammes.
APPLICATIONS OF RADIUM
The principal application of radium is the use for therapeutic purposes of the biological action of the rays (see RADIOTHERAPY; THERAPEUTICS). The biological action is a selective destruction of certain cells and can have very dangerous consequences, but can also be directed against nocive tissue, as for instance in the case of cancer. For medical use radium is put into tubes of glass or in platinum needles, sometimes also on flat surfaces recovered by a varnish, for the irradiation of the skin. Another form of use is to keep radium in solution and to extract from time to time the accumulated radon which, introduced into small tubes, has the same efficiency as radium till its activity has disappeared. The use of radium for pharmaceutical preparations has been frequently tried. The scientific basis, however, in this case is far from being well established. Experimentation on the improvement of the soil by small quantities of radium has been till now very limited and some favourable results in this direction have been claimed.
By incorporating radium with phosphorescent zinc sulphide it is possible to obtain luminous paints giving a weak light visible in darkness. The most important use of this paint is for watches. The quantity necessary is of the order of one-tenth of a milligramme per gramme of zinc sulphide. After several years, the phosphorescent product is altered by the action of the rays and becomes less luminous, though the quantity of radium has not changed appreciably.
Radium in Nature.—Radium exists in minute proportion in every kind of soil and water; the extraordinary sensitiveness of the methods of analysis has made it possible to ascertain this fact. If some inactive element is present in the same proportions, we are not able to detect it. The quantity of radium contained in the ordinary soil is of the order of 10-12 or 10-11 gr. of radium per gramme while a good radioactive ore contains about 10-7 gr. of radium per gramme of mineral.
Radium existing in the depths of the earth is sometimes dissolved by water and affects springs. Other springs dissolve principally the radon liberated by the radium and their activity dies out with the radon. This would explain why certain mineral waters are reputed to be efficient for curative effect only when used directly at the source. Some radio-active waters contain amounts of radium up to 10-10 gr. per litre; the amount of radon can attain 10-7 curies per litre.
The radium in the soil is the origin of the small quantity of radon present in the air and is partly responsible for the natural ionisation of the air which is known to be an important factor in the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere. Radium and radioactive elements in general have played an important part in the evolution of terrestrial heat. It is not improbable that the radium present at the surface of the earth in a very dilute state has some connection with the evolution of life on our planet (see Mme. Curie, Traité de Radioactivité, 2 vol. (1910)).
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