What was Marie Curie famous for?

Marie Curie is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium, and her huge contribution to finding treatments for cancer.

Who discovered radium?

Marie Curie
Pierre Curie
Radium/Discoverers

What did Marie Curie study?

Marie Curie was a physicist, chemist and pioneer in the study of radiation. She discovered the elements polonium and radium with her husband, Pierre. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, along with Henri Becquerel, and Marie received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.

When did Marie Curie discover radium?

1898
And Marie was proven right: in 1898 the Curies discovered two new radioactive elements: radium (named after the Latin word for ray) and polonium (named after Marie’s home country, Poland).

How did Marie Curie separate radium?

Marie extracted pure radium salts from pitchblende, a highly radioactive ore obtained from mines in Bohemia. The extraction required tons of the substance, which she dissolved in cauldrons of acid before obtaining barium sulphate and other alkalines, which she then purified and converted into chlorides.

Why did Marie Curie name radium radium?

After another few months of work, the Curies informed the l’Académie des Sciences, on December 26, 1898, that they had demonstrated strong grounds for having come upon an additional very active substance that behaved chemically almost like pure barium. They suggested the name of radium for the new element.

What is radium used for today?

Radium’s main practical use has been in medicine, producing radon gas from radium chloride to be used in radiotherapy for cancer.

Why did Marie Curie think radium glows?

In the process she discovered that radium glowed in the dark, pouring out heat and light, seemingly forever. What’s inside the atom? In time, other scientists would explain this mysterious phenomenon: The energy came from radium atoms breaking down, spitting out pieces of themselves and turning into different elements.

Did Madame Curie discover radium?

On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris. In 1898, the Curies discovered the existence of the elements radium and polonium in their research of pitchblende.