WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements | Radium

Radium: the essentials

Pure metallic radium is brilliant white when freshly prepared, but blackens on exposure to air, probably due to formation of the nitride. It exhibits luminescence, as do its salts; it decomposes in water and is somewhat more volatile than barium. Radium imparts a carmine red colour to a flame.

Radium emits α, β, and γ rays and when mixed with beryllium produces neutrons. Inhalation, injection, or body exposure to radium can cause cancer and other body disorders. alkaline earth metal, white but tarnishes black upon exposure to air, luminesces, decomposes in water, emits radioactive radon gas, disintegrated radioactively until it reaches stable lead, radiological hazard, α, β, and γ emitter, exposure to radium can cause cancer and other body disorders. Radium is over a million times more radioactive than the same mass of uranium.

Table: basic information about and classifications of radium.
Name: Radium Symbol: Ra Atomic number: 88 Atomic weight: [ 226 ] Standard state: solid at 298 K CAS Registry ID: 7440-14-4	Group in periodic table: 2 Group name: Alkaline earth metal Period in periodic table: 7 Block in periodic table: s-block Colour: metallic Classification: Metallic

Radium: historical information

Radium was discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie at 1898 in France. Origin of name: from the Latin word "radius" meaning "ray".

Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie in pitchblende (or uraninite) from North Bohemia. The element was isolated in 1911 by Mme. Curie and Debierne by the electrolysis of a solution of pure radium chloride, employing a mercury cathode. On distillation in an atmosphere of hydrogen this amalgam yielded the pure metal.

Radium: physical properties

Melting point: 973 [or 700 °C (1292 °F)] K
Boiling point: 2010 [or 1737 °C (3159 °F)] K
Density of solid: 5000 kg m^-3

Ground state electron configuration: [Rn].7s²
Shell structure: 2.8.18.32.18.8.2
Term symbol: ¹S₀
Pauling electronegativity: 0.9 (Pauling units)
First ionisation energy: 509.3 kJ mol^-1
Second ionisation energy: 979.0 kJ mol^-1

Isolation

Isolation: all isotopes of radium are radioactive and there is only ever any need to make radium metal on very small scales for research purposes. Radium is extremely scarce but found in uranium ores such as pitchblende at slightly more than 1g in 10 tonnes of ore. It may be made on very small scale by the electrolysis of molten radium chloride, RaCl₂. This was first done using a mercury cathode, which gave radium amalgam. The metal was obtained by distillation away from the amalgam.

cathode: Ra²⁺(l) + 2e^- → Ra

anode: Cl^-(l) → ¹/₂Cl₂ (g) + e^-

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Radium
- Essential data: names, symbol, atomic number, and atomic weight; block, period, and group in periodic table; description; standard state; registry number; and isolation
- History: meaning of name; discovery; and history of the element
- Uses
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Radium around us
- Geology: Abundance of elements in the universe; the sun; meteorites; Earth's crust; oceans; and streams
- Biology: Abundance in humans; biological role; and health hazards)
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Chemistry and compounds
- Compounds: halides, oxides, sulfides, hydrides, and complexes; lattice energies; and reduction potentials
- Reactions of radium: reactions of radium with air; water; halogens; acids; and bases
- Electronegativities: Pauling; Sanderson; Allred Rochow; Mulliken-Jaffe; and Allen
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Element properties
- Physics properties: Boiling point; melting point; density; molar volume; thermal conductivity; and electrical resistivity; bulk modulus; critical temperature; superconductivity temperature; hardness (mineralogical, Brinell, and Vickers); linear expansion coefficient; Poisson's ratio; reflectivity; refractive index; rigidity modulus; Young's modulus; velocity of sound
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Atom properties
- Electron shell properties: Electronic configuration; term symbol; electron affinity; ionization energies; and atomic spectra
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- Atomic orbital properties: effective nuclear charge; electron binding energies; and valence orbital radii maxima
Nuclear properties
- Isotopes: isotope abundances; radioactive isotopes; isotope masses; nuclear spins; and nuclear magnetic moment
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1	2															3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

1 H																															2 He
3 Li	4 Be																									5 B	6 C	7 N	8 O	9 F	10 Ne
11 Na	12 Mg																									13 Al	14 Si	15 P	16 S	17 Cl	18 Ar
19 K	20 Ca															21 Sc	22 Ti	23 V	24 Cr	25 Mn	26 Fe	27 Co	28 Ni	29 Cu	30 Zn	31 Ga	32 Ge	33 As	34 Se	35 Br	36 Kr
37 Rb	38 Sr															39 Y	40 Zr	41 Nb	42 Mo	43 Tc	44 Ru	45 Rh	46 Pd	47 Ag	48 Cd	49 In	50 Sn	51 Sb	52 Te	53 I	54 Xe
55 Cs	56 Ba	57 La	58 Ce	59 Pr	60 Nd	61 Pm	62 Sm	63 Eu	64 Gd	65 Tb	66 Dy	67 Ho	68 Er	69 Tm	70 Yb	71 Lu	72 Hf	73 Ta	74 W	75 Re	76 Os	77 Ir	78 Pt	79 Au	80 Hg	81 Tl	82 Pb	83 Bi	84 Po	85 At	86 Rn
87 Fr	88 Ra	89 Ac	90 Th	91 Pa	92 U	93 Np	94 Pu	95 Am	96 Cm	97 Bk	98 Cf	99 Es	100 Fm	101 Md	102 No	103 Lr	104 Rf	105 Db	106 Sg	107 Bh	108 Hs	109 Mt	110 Ds	111 Rg	112 Cn	113 Uut	114 Fl	115 Uup	116 Lv	117 Uus	118 Uuo

Radium

Radium: the essentials

Radium: historical information

Radium: physical properties

Radium: orbital properties

Isolation

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