INTERNATIONAL UNIVERZITY OF TRAVNIK IN TRAVNIK

FACULTY OF POLYTECHNIC SCIENCES

TRAVNIK

MARIE CURIE – LIFE AND WORK

SEMINAR WORK

Subject:
English language

Mentor: Student:
Prof. dr. Murat Dizdarević Aldin Osmanović

Travnik, January 2023.

 CONTENT

INTRODUCTION 1

1. BIOGRAPHY 1
1.1. Childhood 1
1.2. Education 2
1.3. Marriage and scientific work 2
1.4. Discovery of radium and polonium 3
1.5. Doctoral thesis 4
1.6. A love affair and career failure 5
1.7. The last years of life 7

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY 7

2.1. The place of Marie Curie in radioactivity research 7
2.2. The importance of Marie's Scientific work 8
2.3. Radium and polonium isolation procedure 9
2.3.1. Isolation of polonium 9
2.3.2. Isolation of radium 11
2.3.3. Radium and polonium today 11
2.4. Continuation of research for Marie's life 13
2.5. Published works 13
2.6. Negative sides of discoveries 14

3. THE LEGACY OF MARIE CURIE 15

CONCLUSION 16

LITERATURE 17
 INTRODUCTION

Marie Curie was a Polish physicist. After studying at the "Free studies" for Polish women in
Warsaw, Kiri enrolled in 1891 year to study physics at the Sorbonne in Paris. Four years later
she married Pierre Curie. At the end of the 19th century they discovered radium and polonium,
and described their radiation as radioactivity. In 1903 year they received the Nobel Prize for
Physics for their scientific research. After Pierre's death, Marie continued her research. She was
the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, and after receiving the Nobel Prize in 1911 year, she
became the first scientist with two Nobel Prizes. She studied the application of radioactivity in
medicine using X-rays. Due to exposure to radiation, she died of leukemia. Marie was very
modest, she shared her knowledge for free without patenting it because she saw science as an
opportunity to improve humanity, not to exploit it.

This seminar paper describes her life and professional path, as well as her scientific work with
the consequences that caused the death of this exceptional scientist. Her most important
contributions in the field of physics and chemistry are the discovery of new elements (polonium
and radium) and the beginning of a new scientific field - radioactivity.

1. BIOGRAPHY

1.1. Childhood

Marie Curie was born on 7 November 1867

in Poland, which at that time was divided
between Austria, Prussia and Russia.
Warsaw, where she was born, was part of
Imperial Russia. Marie's parents, Bronislawa
and Vladislav Sklodowski, were true patriots
who publicly advocated Polish
independence. Her mother was from a poor
but hardworking family. She graduated from
teacher's school. Marie's father taught
mathematics and physics, but was fired from
his job because of his patriotism.
Picture 1. Sklodowski Childern

The family found themselves in a difficult financial situation, which is why they had to rent
rooms to students or pupils. Marie was eight years old when her sister was infected with typhus
by one of their tenants and died. Three years later, at the age of 42, her mother also died of
tuberculosis. The remaining family members - father, son Joseph and daughters Bronja, Hela
and Marie - became extremely close after the aforementioned tragedies. Father would read
literary classics to the children on Sunday evenings, and sometimes he would explain to them
parts of the physics equipment he used to use in class. Marie's father did not shy away from
reading forbidden literature, that is, secretly printed.

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1.2. Education

Marie was the best student in her class. In 1883 she finished high school at the age of 15.
Although she graduated with honors, this caused a difficult period in her life that we could
characterize today as depression. At her father's insistence, she left Warsaw and spent a year in
the countryside with her relatives.

It was the only carefree year of her life. Like her siblings, Marie hoped for a university degree.
Although Joseph was given the opportunity to study medicine at the University of Warsaw,
women were not welcome there. Marie and Bronja therefore joined the "Floating University",
which got its name from its frequent location changes due to fear of the imperial authorities.
Aware that this university would not provide them with enough knowledge, the two sisters
agreed to give private lessons and save money so that they could continue their studies in Paris.
After a year of saving, Marie realized that her income was too low, so she worked for the next
three years as a well-paid nanny in a village 150 km north of Warsaw, on a farm. The owner of
the estate allowed her to tutor his illiterate children in her spare time, even though in Imperial
Poland this meant treason. On the estate, Marie fell in love with the eldest son of the estate
owner, Kazmierza, to whom she became engaged, but broke off the engagement because his
parents made it clear to her that she was not wealthy enough for their son. In 1891, Marie had
enough money to start her studies at the famous Sorbonne in Paris.

In the fall of 1891, she traveled to Paris. Her financial situation became even worse. In the
winter, she kept warm by wearing all the clothes she had, and often fainted from hunger. Her
knowledge of mathematics, scientific background, and knowledge of the French language were
not nearly as good as those of her colleagues, so she did her best to minimize that difference.
She decided to learn the French language well. She thoroughly learned the syntax and spelling
and removed the last traces of irregular accents. Her persistence paid off in the scientific field
as well. With the help of a scholarship, she completed her master's degree in physics in 1893,
and her master's degree in mathematics in 1894.

1.3. Marriage and scientific work

Marie Sklodowska met her future husband, Pierre Curie, in 1894. At that time, he ran the
laboratory at the Municipal School for Industrial Physics and Chemistry. Pierre, then ten years
older than Marie, made significant achievements in crystal magnetism research, but did not
finish his doctoral dissertation. A year later, they got married.

After becoming Sklodowska-Curie, Marie continued active scientific work. She devoted her
doctoral dissertation to the problem of new radiations. After a year of intensive work, she gave
a presentation at a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences on materials that, like uranium,
have radiation (thorium). The report states that minerals containing uranium have much more
intense radiation than uranium itself. In 1898, the Curies discovered a new element, which was
named polonium (the Latin name for Poland) as a sign of respect for Marie's homeland. At the
same time, they managed to theoretically support the existence of radium - it was obtained
experimentally only after 5 years. Marie conducted experiments with radioactivity in the barn
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next to her husband's laboratory.

1.4. Discovery of radium and polonium

Two mysterious discoveries led her to the beginning

of her life's work. In December 1895, the German
physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered rays that can
travel both through solid wood and through tissue. A
few months later, the French physicist Henri
Becquerel discovered that minerals containing
uranium also radiated. While other scientists limited
themselves to researching Röntgen rays, Marie
became interested in Becquerel's research. She began
researching minerals containing uranium. She
discovered that the strength of the radiation depends
on the amount of uranium in the mineral, and that
only the amount of uranium atoms in the compound
or mineral was important for a certain amount of
radiation. Radiation was not the result of uranium
alone. 2. Marie and Pierre Curie

By trying various chemicals, she discovered that thorium also radiates. In order to describe the
behavior of these two elements, she came up with the name radioactivity. Marie suspected that
these compounds/minerals contain a new substance that is radioactive and has not been
discovered so far.

The possibility of finding a new element also intrigued Pierre, so he left his crystal research and
joined Marie's research. The first success of the work was the conclusion that the strength of
these extraordinary rays is proportional to the amount of uranium in the investigated samples
and that this ejection, which can be accurately measured, is not influenced by the type of
chemical compound in which the uranium is currently found, nor by external conditions such
as are light and temperatures. On February 17, 1898, the spouses tested the radiation of black,
resinous, laboratory-processed and cooked ore in the laboratory for the first time, which was
called uranium resin or uraninite. That day, during experiments, they determined that there was
a strong, unusual and previously unknown radiation – even stronger than pure uranium.

In the research, Marie used a measuring instrument invented 15 years earlier by her husband
and his brother. With it, she accurately measured the changes made by invisible rays as they
passed through the air. Although the new two elements were similar to bismuth and barium,
they had a new property - radioactivity. That was the first step in the discovery of radium.

On 18 July 1898 year members of the Institut de France listened to a lecture by Henri Becquerel,
Marie's friend and mentor. He announced that Marie and Pierre discovered something new
while experimenting with uranium pitch. The title of the attachment was "About a new
radioactive substance in uranium pitch" and that was the first time in history that the word

3
radioactive was used in public. As they produced a higher concentration of that substance, they
discovered that it had unusual properties and that it spontaneously glowed on its own.
Therefore, they discovered not one but two new substances – the first was named polonium in
memory of Mary's homeland, and the second radium after the Latin word for air – radium.

Picture 3. Polonium Picture 4. Radium

The public and industrialists were delighted with this invention. Pierre discovered that radium
can harm living flesh. It provided a new way of treating cancer and other serious diseases.
However, Marie lost a lot of weight during her research, and Pierre also often felt very bad.
Although it was the result of radiation, Marie refused to believe it. On the other hand, there
were industrialists who saw this invention as an opportunity to make money.
They supported the research, both financially and materially. However, laboratory workers died
in incomprehensibly large numbers, most of them from leukemia, and many were losing their
body parts. Even so, radiation has long been considered curative: radioactive medicinal sources
have been very popular for a long time.

1.5. Doctoral thesis

Although the industry flourished, Marie and Pierre did not make much money from it. On the
contrary, they barely covered their expenses. For this reason, in 1900, they started to engage in
educational work again. Marie became the first woman to teach at a French school for teachers.
In 1902, she managed to obtain a tenth of a gram of pure radium and for the first time determine
its atomic weight in the amount of 225. In 1903, she completed her doctoral dissertation and
became the first woman to receive a doctorate in France.

The committee that evaluated her thesis concluded that her work contributed to science like
none before it. In 1903, her and her husband received the Nobel Prize for Physics for physics.
That event changed their lives. Pierre got a professorship at the Sorbonne, and Marie got the
position of head of the laboratory. The radio industry was on the rise and everyone wanted to
know how to isolate pure radium. Marie and Pierre agreed that they would share their
knowledge without any fees, so they chose poverty.

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 Picture 5. Picture 6
The laboratory where pure radium was isolated Title page of Marie Curie's thesis

The Royal Society of London honored her and Pierre with the Davy Medal, and in 1904 the
Italians awarded them the Matteucci Medal. However, their health was deteriorating, so they
did not visit Sweden until 1905. to give a speech and receive the award. That prize meant a lot
to them because it amounted to about 70,000 francs. Just one year later, on 19 April 1906, after
working in the laboratory, Pierre went to the library, slipped on the wet road, fell under a cart
and died on the spot.

Although deeply affected by the tragedy, Marie continued her work. On 7 September 1910,
Marie Curie and Andre Debierne isolated pure radium. They achieved this by using an
electrolytic process from uranium pitch metal. In 1910, she published a fundamental treatise on
radioactivity, under whose influence a significant number of scientists around the world began
to study radioactive substances.

In memory of her husband, she convinced the French government and the private Institut
Pasteur to fund the Radium Institute. Torn between work at the institute and motherhood, Marie
was deeply affected by the rejection of membership of the French Academy of Sciences in 1911.
Although they never recognized her because she was a woman, she was not short of awards and
recognition. However, she was appointed in place of her deceased husband as head of physics
at the Sorbonne. Thus, she became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, and after receiving
the Nobel Prize in 1911, she became the first scientist with two Nobel Prizes.

1.6. A love affair and career failure

Mary and Paul Langevin met on 2 June 1903, the day she defended her doctoral dissertation.
Paul was a student of Pierre Currie who in 1907 made his greatest contribution to physics:

5
applying the theory of electricity to the phenomenon of magnetism. Mary and married Paul
engaged in a love affair, and on 15 July 1910, they together rented an apartment for meetings.

Their happiness lasted only six months. Paula Langevina's wife found a love letter that Marie
sent to Paul and threatened her death in August 1910 in order to avoid public embarrassment,
Mary leaves with children outside Paris from where she writes Paula a letter that will change
her life.

Picture 7. and 8.: Marie Curie and daughter Irene

A year later, on 3 November 1911, Mary and Paul joined in a conference in Solvay with
Einstein, who would later describe her as “a passionate woman of sharp intelligence.”

The day after the conference ended, Marie's letter was published in the newspaper La Journal
asking him to leave his wife and family. It caused her so much damage that she could never
fully return to her scientific research. News of the marriage breaker so angered the public that
they came before Marie's house with threats. Because of the Nobel Prize, the Council of the
Royal Academy of Sciences from Sweden reacted, seeking Marie's comments on the scandal.
Mary responded to their letter, traveled to Sweden, and proudly took the prize she deserved.
However, her career was in decline.

Two years after Marie Sklodowska Curie received her second Nobel Prize, the one from
chemistry in 1911 and when her lover Paul Langevin returned to his wife, Marie suffered a not-
so-expected but severe loss when her friend Blanche Wittman was found dead one morning in
Marie's apartment in Paris. The cause of death was never confirmed, but those who came for
the body noticed its slight height and how Marie insisted on lifting that mutilated torso herself
and putting it in a coffin. Blanche Wittman's death left behind three notebooks that didn't
become known until the late 1930 s. When she died, she weighed 42 kilos and was 102 cm tall.
It was basically a torso at the time: her left leg was amputated to her knees, her right leg to her
hip, and her left arm.

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1.7. The last years of life

In the years that followed, Marie studied the use of radioactivity in medicine using X rays and
headed the French radio service in World War I. Later, she worked on the newly established
Institute for radiation, which will become the leading international research in nuclear physics.

During tje First World War, Marie Curie, assisted by her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the
development of medical use of X - ray. She advocated the use of mobile radiography units,
popularly known as the “little Curie”, which played a significant role in the diagnosis of
wounded soldiers. The laboratory led by Marie Curie was the first in the world to experiment
in the treatment of cancer cells by radiation.

Marie realized that large amounts of radioactive materials are needed to cure diseases and to
provide enough material for research. To achieve this, she visited several countries. Since the
destructive effects of radiation in the 20th century were still unknown, the Curie conducted
research without any protection from radioactive substances. Marie was said to love the
beautiful blue - green light that the substances emitted in the darkness, so she carried the test
tubes with radioactive isotopes in her pocket and kept them in a desk drawer.

She was in poor health, which was certainly caused by extensive exposure to radiation. She
died on 4 July 1934 from leukemia that quickly progressed with fever, and the bone marrow
transplantation did not respond, likely due to long - term radiation exposure. The intensity of
the radioactivity to which the Curies were exposed was so high that their laboratory equipment,
books, and notes are still considered too dangerous to handle and kept in lead –
lined boxes.

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY

2.1. The place of Marie Curie in radioactivity research

An important contribution to the discovery of radioactivity was made by Wilhelm C. Röntgen.

He won the first Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for credit for finding X-rays. Röntgen
discovered mysterious invisible rays on 8 November 1895, while studying cathode rays. He
named those rays X-rays for unknown origin. Realizing that the discovery could be
revolutionary, he went into isolation for two months. It was not until 28 December 1895, that
he filed an official report on his discovery. In his presentation, he showed a familiar image of
the human hand, and in 1896 these rays were called X rays. A year after the X-ray was
discovered, Frenchman Henri Becquerel took an interest in uranium because he knew that
uranium salt gives a strong flourishing light that lasted long after exposure to the sun. He began
a series of experiments by putting sparkling specimens on photographic plates, wrapped well
in black paper. After developing the plates, he noticed that they were affected by uranium salts.
It was a rainy season, and Becquerel tried his luck by experimenting without prior exposure of
uranium salts to solar radiation. As they reacted to the plates, he came to the conclusion that
uranium was constantly “alive” and releasing a new type of radiation. It was the beginning of
something new - the beginning of radioactivity.
7
This is where Marie Curie and her husband Pierre perform. They returned not only to uranium
but to the source – uranium ore. Testing various samples revealed that the ore contained an
element more radioactive than uranium itself. By separating uranium ore in a long process, the
pattern became smaller and the radioactivity increased. The first element she singled out was
called, as I mentioned, polonium. By further experimenting and separating, she found another
element, the radium. Thus, the accidental discovery of Henry Becquerel and the persistent work
of Marie Curie laid firm foundations for modern physics. The discovery of radioactivity gave
science an insight into atomic energy. The first basis for understanding this new kind of energy
was given by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity. Atomic energy changed the world's
understanding at the time.

2.2. The importance of Marie's Scientific work

The work of Marie and Pierre Curie determined the beginning of a new era in physics and
chemistry and gave a strong impetus to research into radioactivity carried out by their
contemporaries and carried out by a new generation of scientists. In the years to come, scientists
discovered the rules of radioactive decay. And her daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie, owes her
achievements to her mother's work and inventions. Together with her husband, Irene won the
Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 in recognition of the discovery of artificial radioactivity.
Based on her findings, James Chadwick discovered the existence of neutrons.

Marie Curie's work encouraged the medical use of radium for the treatment of cancer. In honor
of Curie's measurement unit for radioactivity outside the SI-system of measures was called
Curie (CI). Originally, one curie was equal to the radioactivity of one gram of radium 226. The
work of Marie and Pierre Ponzi became the basis for many further research in nuclear physics
and chemistry.

Picture 9. Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Year

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2.3. Radium and polonium isolation procedure

In 1903, Marie Curie wrote a series of articles describing the process of isolating radium and
polonium. Its articles, known as Radio-active substances, detailed their findings, from the
achievements of other scientists until then, through the measurement of the intensity of
radioactive radiation to the very isolation process of radium and polonium. It States that the
analysis of uranium oxide led to the discovery of polonium and radium. Through one of the
following fractionation methods, bismuth products have proved to be extremely rich in
polonium:
1. sulphide sublimation in vacuo: active sulphide is more variable than bismuth
sulphide;
2. precipitation of nitrate solution in water: precipitation of basic nitrate is more active
than salt remaining in the precipitation;
3. sulphur hydrogen deposition of hydrochloric acid solution, extremely strong acid:
deposited sulphides are much more active than the salts that remain in the solution.

Radium is a substance that comes with barium deposited in uranium oxide; it resembles
barium by reaction and is separated from it by the difference in the solubility of chloride in
water, in diluted alcohol or water acidified with hydrochloric acid. They achieved separation of
barium chloride and radium by subjecting the mixture to fractional crystallization, where the
radium chloride was less soluble than the barium. Below is the procedure for isolating polonium
and radium.

2.3.1. Isolation of polonium

The first step in isolation is to isolate barium with radium from uranium ore, as well as bismuth
with polonium and rare samples containing actinium. The fractionation process is used in the
second step, although there is a possibility of losing some of the matter that separates.

After the Curies received several tons of uranium ore, the most important item was the
conversion of sulphate into carbonates by boiling matter in concentrated sodium carbonate
solution. The residue mainly contains lead and calcium sulphates, silica, aluminium oxide and
iron oxide. Almost all metals are in a higher or lower concentration (copper, bismuth, zinc,
cobalt, manganese, nickel, vanadium, antimony, thallium, niobium, tantalum, arsenic, barium,
etc.). The radium is contained in this mixture as sulphate and is the least soluble. In order to
dissolve it is important to remove sulphuric acid as far as possible and to achieve this, the
solution is first treated by boiling the concentrated sodium solution. Sulphuric acid is combined
with lead, aluminium and calcium and is transferred for the most part to a sodium sulphate
solution separated by continuous flushing with water. The alkaline solution simultaneously
removes lead, silicon and aluminium and the insoluble portion is removed with regular
hydrochloric acid. This process completely disintegrates and dissolves most of the matter.

Polonium and actinium can be obtained from this solution; polonium is deposited with sulphur
hydrogen and actinium can be found in hydrogen deposited in ammonia in a sulphur-separated

9
solution and oxidised. The radium stays in the insoluble part. This part is rinsed with water and
then treated with a hot solution of carbonate soda. This process completes the transformation
of barium sulphate and radium into carbonates. The matter is then thoroughly washed with
water and then treated with hydrochloric acid. The solution contains radium as well as polonium
and actinium. Then it filtered and deposited with sulfuric acid. In this way, raw sulphates of
barium containing radium and calcium, as well as traces of actinium, are extracted from lead
and iron. The solution still contains a small fraction of actinium and polonium that can be
extracted with hydrochloric solution.

One tonne of matter produces 10 to 20 kilograms of raw sulfate, the activity of which is 30 to
60 times that of metal uranium. Then they must purify themselves. To achieve this, they are
cooked with sodium carbonate and converted into chlorides. The solution is then treated with a
sulphite hydrogen that delivers a small amount of active sulphites containing polonium. The
solution is filtered and oxidised and deposits with pure ammonia. Deposits of hydrates and
oxides are extremely active and activity is attributed to actinia. The filtered solution is deposited
with sodium carbonate and the deposited carbonates of the alkaline elements are rinsed and
converted into chlorides. These chlorines evaporate and are rinsed with pure concentrated
hydrochloric acid. Calcium chloride is almost completely degraded, while bari and radium
chloride remains unmelted. Thus, one tonne of the original material produces about 8 kilograms
of barium and radium chloride, the activity of which is about 60 times stronger than uranium
metal. Chloride is then ready for fractionation. As noted earlier, by passing sulfuric acid through
various hydrochloric solutions, active sulphides are deposited whose activity is attributed to
polonium. These sulphides generally contain bismuth, a small amount of copper and lead that
occur in relatively small quantities because a large part of them is removed with sodium solution
and because their chloride is poorly soluble.

Antimony and arsenic are found in the lowest amounts of oxides, and their oxides are also
broken down into sodium. In order to obtain highly active sulphates, the following procedure
shall be used: the solutions accompany strong acids with hydrochloric acid if deposited with
hydrogen sulfate, the sulphites thus deposited are very active and are needed to isolate
polonium, and the solution then contains substances that cannot be fully deposited in
hydrochloric acid (bismuth, lead, antimony). To complete the deposition, the solution is diluted
with water and re-treated with hydrogen sulfate given by a second sulphide deposit, much less
active than the first. Further purification of sulphide requires flushing with ammonium sulphide,
which removes the last traces of antimony and arsenic. Then they are rinsed with water and
ammonium nitrate and treated with diluted nitric acid. The whole solution never appears; there
is always an insoluble residue, larger or smaller, that can be dissolved again. The solution is
reduced to a small volume and settles either by ammonia, or by adding water. Lead and copper
are then left in the solution, and a little bismuth, poorly active, is sometimes also left in the
solution. The precipitate of oxides and basic nitrates shall be fractionated as follows: the
precipitate dissolves in nitric acid and water is added to the solution until a sufficient amount
of precipitate is formed. The sediment is separated from the floating liquid and re-dissolved in
azotic acid, after which the liquids thus obtained and re-deposited with water are treated as
before. The different fractions shall be combined according to their activity and the
concentration shall be separated as far as possible. This produces a very small amount of highly
10
active substance that shows on the spectrometer only the bismuth line. New substances may be
obtained by fusion with potassium cyanide. The sediments are sometimes white, but more often
yellowish or reddish.

2.3.2. Isolation of radium

The first step in extracting pure rye chloride is to make a mixture of chloride into fractional
crystallisation in clean water, and then in water to which hydrochloric acid has been added. The
difference in two chloride solutions is used because the radium is less soluble than barium. At
the beginning of fractionation, clean distilled water is used. The chloride solution is heated to
boil to allow crystallisation by refrigeration. At the bottom, beautiful crystals are formed and
floating saturated solution is easily decanted. If part of the solution evaporates and turns to
powder, the chloride produced is about five times less active than the crystallised one. Chloride
is therefore divided into two parts, the first being more active than the other. The procedure is
repeated with both parts and two new parts are obtained from each. When the crystallisation
process is completed, the less active part is added to the new more active part. This gives rise
to a third part which is subject to the same procedure. The activity of each new split is
decreasing. When its activity becomes undetectable, the fractionation process is terminated.
This removes the inactive part, leaving chloride rich in radio in the active part. Marie Curie
pointed out that the amount of matter in the fractions decreased the more activity increased.

2.3.3. Radium and polonium today

Radium is a natural, shiny, silvery, soft and radioactive element from the group of alkaline earth
elements. It was bright when freshly prepared, but darkened in air. Radium reacts with oxygen
and water. Radium salts glow. Curie (Ci) is a unit of radioactivity and is defined by that amount
of radioactivity that has the same decay rate as 1 gram of Ra, which is 3.7 · 1010 decays per
second. Along with polonium, it belongs to the group of the rarest elements found in the Earth's
crust. As a product of radioactive decay, uranium is found in traces in uranium ores; with further
decay, its atoms turn into radon atoms, and these finally into lead atoms Pb. On average, only
2-3 mg of radium is found per 1000 t of eruptive rock. The richest raw material for the
production of radium is uranium pitch, and one ton contains 0.4 g of radium. Obtaining radium
from ores that contain it in such a small amount is a painful and expensive process, so to date
not even 1 kg of it has been produced in the whole world.

Elemental radium is a metal related and similar to calcium and barium, it can be obtained by
electrolysis of radium chloride. Since radioactivity is a property of the atomic nucleus,
compounds are just as radioactive as the metal itself; therefore, radium is regularly produced
and used in the form of bromide, RaBr2. Radium serves as a source of radiation in nuclear
research, for the treatment of cancer, for industrial radiography, continuous measurement of the
thickness of metal sheets, the production of luminous coatings for dials (in a mixture with zinc
sulfide), for the removal of static electricity in industrial devices (as well as polonium), etc. All
these purposes require minimal amounts of radium; for many, cheaper produced radioactive
isotopes, some of which have many times stronger effects than radium, are used more today.

11
Radium is actually a very rare element. It is formed as a product of the radioactive decay of
uranium, so it is found in very small quantities in its ores: uranium pitch (about 0.14 g per ton
of ore) and carnotite. The most important uranium pitch deposits are in the Czech Republic,
and the most important carnotite deposits are in Colorado (USA), Canada and Zaire.

Since it is chemically the most similar to barium, when obtaining radium, barium salts are first
added to its ores, and the processing procedure for that raw material is analogous to the
procedure for obtaining barium until the sulfate is separated. Since barium and radium sulfates
are insoluble in most chemicals, they are converted into carbonates or sulfides that dissolve in
hydrochloric acid. Radium in the form of salts (usually chlorides and bromides) is separated
from barium by fractional crystallization of these chlorides. Radium, highly radioactive salts,
are kept in sealed, glass, cylindrical containers held in lead shields, as was and still is the case
with Marie and Pierre Curie's personal belongings. It is unstable in air or water, and the flame
is bright red. Through the spontaneous radioactive decay of its isotopes,
it emits alpha, beta and gamma rays and is therefore dangerously radiotoxic and causes tumors
and other disorders in cells and the body.

Radium is about a million times more radioactive than uranium, and by alpha decay it turns into
the radioactive noble gas radon, which enters the composition of the Earth's crust and
atmosphere. One kilogram of Ra isotope releases about 100 cm3 of radon gas per day under
standard conditions. The use of radium is relatively modest. It is mostly used as a source of
radiation in nuclear research and industrial radiography (similar to X-rays) and for obtaining
radioactive radon gas. In minimal quantities, it is used as an additive to self-luminous paint
pastes (which are relatively dangerous radioactive ingredients), and they were once used for
luminous scales of various instruments and watches. It was widely used in the medical
radiotherapy of tumors, tuberculous skin inflammation and other cancerous diseases, but today
it has been replaced by less dangerous radionuclides. In all compounds, radium has an
oxidation state of +2. Radium hydroxide is relatively easily soluble in water and gives a strong
alkali. Radium sulfate is more insoluble in water and dilute acids than the chemically similar
barium sulfate, and radium carbonate is insoluble in water but soluble in acids. Due to its
radioactivity, radium is very dangerous if absorbed into the body; the maximum amount of Ra
that the body can absorb is 7400 becquerels.

Polonium turns into a lead isotope with the emission of alpha and gamma rays, and the half-life
is 138 days. It is chemically related to its homologues, sulfur, selenium and tellurium. It is
produced in milligram quantities by bombarding bismuth with neutrons. It is used to produce
neutron sources, and added to spark plug electrodes in internal combustion engines for ignition,
it facilitates their operation at low temperatures. It is similar to radium in some ways. Polonium
is a reactive, silvery-gray metal that dissolves well in dilute acids and very poorly in alkalis. It
is quite volatile and will evaporate half of it in two days if kept at a temperature of 55 degrees.
A gram capsule of polonium will reach a temperature of 500 degrees due to intense alpha
radiation, so polonium is used as a light source of heat for satellites, and is also used as a source
of alpha radiation for research.

Apart from uranium ores, polonium is obtained by bombarding the Bi isotope with neutrons,
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which produces Bi, which gives the Po isotope by beta decay. Isotope Po, with a half-life of
138,38 days, is even 5000 times stronger alpha-emitter than radium and releases a large amount
of heat (an ampoule with half a gram of polonium heats up above 500°C) so it can be used as
an energy source to power satellites.

Due to less availability and high cost, the use of polonium is quite limited. Isotopes that are
alpha-emitters in the form of deposits on metal strips and spikes are mainly used as dissipators
of static electricity in areas where it is undesirable (measuring laboratories, electrical devices)
or is created in the production process (e.g. in the textile industry). Alpha-radiation of polonium
ionizes the air and makes it conductive, so static electricity is lost. Polonium forms ionic
compounds in which it can have an oxidation state of +2, +4 and +6. More important
compounds are: Polonium(II)-compounds, e.g. halides (PoCl2, PoBr2, oxide (PoO), and volatile
hydride (H2Po), polonium(IV)-compounds, such as: bromide (PoBr4), hydroxide (Po(OH)4),
nitrate (Po(NO3)4 ), sulfate (Po(SO4)2) and oxide (PoO2), which is formed by heating the metal
in air. Polonium is extremely dangerous due to alpha radiation. Uranium ores contain about
100·10-6 grams of polonium per one ton of ore. Marie Curie has obtained the first sample of
polonium from that source.

2.4. Continuation of research for Marie's life

Since 1900, letters have been sent to Curie's address from England, Germany, Austria,
Denmark, where many scientists have asked for clarification. The Marie was in continuous
written connection with Sir William Crookes, the Vienna professors Suessa and Boltzmann and
Danish scientist Paulsen. The Curies responded cheerfully to inquiries. In some lands scholars
began to search for unknown radioactive activity, hoping for new discoveries. The hunt was
successful, and the prey began with mesothorium, radiotoria, ionium, protactinium and
radioactive lead. In 1903 two English scholars, Ramsay and Soddy, proved that radium
constantly ejects a small amount of gas, helium. It's the first case of atomic alteration. Later,
Rutheford and Soddy will confirm the hypothesis inferred by Marie Curie back in 1900 – they
will publish an exciting theory about the radioactive decay of atoms. They proved that the
radioactivity started, albeit invariably, in a state of willful decay: the faster their decay, the
greater their activity.

2.5. Published works

Marie Curie's scholarly work was very fruitfull. At the time of working together with his wife
Pierre has published a total of 32 scientific papers, some of which are:

 The chemical properties of ramids (Marie and Pierre Curie, 1899);

 The atomic weight of barium (Marie Curie, 1900);
 New radioactive started and their burning (Marie and Pierre Curie, 1900);
 Radioactive substances (Marie and Pierre Curie, 1901);
 Atomic weight of radium (Marie Curie, 1902);
 Research of radioactive bodies (Marie Curie, 1903).

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Some of her most important works are:

 Rays emitting uranium and thorium/Rayons EMIS par les composes de l' Uranium et
du thorium (1898);
 Doctoral dissertation/these presentees a la Faculte des Scienses de Paris pour obtenir
le grade de docteur es Sciences physiqes (1903);
 Findings of radioactive substances/Untersuchungen uber die radioactive Substanzen
(1904.);
 Radioactivity/Radioactivite (1910);
 Radioactivity/traite de radioactivite (1910);
 Radio Revelations/the Discovery of radium (1921);
 Radiology and rat/La Radiologie et La Guerre (1921).

2.6. Negative sides of discoveries

I have already mentioned that immediately after the discovery, the industry took a sudden
interest in new substances and produced a multitude of products containing them. However, in
1925 the picture began to change. That year Margaret Carlough, a young woman who painted
clocks at a watch factory in New Jersey, sued her employer, U. S. radium Corporation. She
painted the watch dial with a paint that lit on its own. Nine workers doing the same job have
already died with severe mouth injuries as the first symptom: they were ordered to moisten the
pointed brush with their own saliva, and after a relatively short period of time, cancer wounds
began to appear, which grew but did not heal at all. Teeth rotted, cheeks contracted incurable
wounds, tongues blackened, gaping black mouths testified that this beautiful self - illuminating
color may contain radiation that is deadly. Others suffered from severe anemia, later called
radionecrosis. The factory that produced these beautifully colored watches denied the
connection, and called the symptom hysteria. However, this was very damaging, and it is
believed that it also ruled on Marie herself; and Pierre. Her manuscripts, even the cook, are still
so radioactive that they must be kept in a special lead box.

She wrote about it herself:

“When studying radioactive substances, we must be especially careful if we are to measure
accurately. Objects in the chemical laboratory as well as devices for physical experimentation
become radioactive over time and act also through black paper on photographic plates. Dust,
air, the room we work in, clothes, everything gets radioactive. The air in the room is conductive.
Being in our laboratory is already unbearable, because we no longer have any machines that
would be completely isolated.”

Back in 1900., German scientists Walkhoff and Giesel reported that radio causes a new
beginning and physiological changes. Peter Curie then exposed his hand to the illumination of
the radio.

He described his symptoms in a report to the Academy:

“The skin turned red on a surface of six square centimeters; the appearance was the same as
that of burns, yet I felt almost no pain. After a few days, the redness became more intense, but
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the surface did not increase; after twenty days, the scab was first made, and the wound that we
bound was opened; on the forty-second day the skin from the outer edges to the middle began
to heal and fifty-two days after the illumination, the wounds were only one square inch away.
The colours are greyish; this leads us to conclude that deeper layers are also affected.”

Rather than worrying them, the fact fascinated them. Namely, professors Bouchard and
Balthazard, collaborators of Pier, found that radio kills diseased cells and thus heals lupus,
ulcers, and some forms of cancer. This is mentioned by Marie, who says that Dr. Daulos of
Saint - Louis hospital investigated the effects of rhodium rays on the skin and that the radium
showed significant results – the layer of epidermis that he destroyed locally is being restored
perfectly healthy.

3. THE LEGACY OF MARIE CURIE

Many institutions and foundations were founded in memory of Mary Curie. For example, THE
PEOPLE sub-programme supports the mobility of researchers and the development of
researchers' careers in the European Union and beyond. A series of scholarships are being
implemented, which are known as Mary Curie actions from previous framework programmes.
Mary Curie's actions, depending on the type, are open to individual researchers or research
organizations (colleges, universities, institutes, companies). Every Marie Curie action is open
to all branches of science and research fields. On the other hand, Marie Curie cancer care is a
British charitable organization dedicated to people who are seriously ill. They are best known
for a network of nearly 2,000 nurses working in the homes of severely ill patients across the
UK, providing care and support. Marie Curie cancer care is a leader in exploring the best ways
to care for people and thus improves care in the future. They have their own research teams and
finance external research programs.

Furthermore, at the University of Ottawa, the building was named after Marie Curie. But the
most important institution dedicated to it is the one in Warsaw: Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Museum. The museum is sponsored by Polish chemical society and is the only museum in the
world dedicated to the discovery of polonium and radium. The museum is located in Warsaw,
in the 18th century building where Curie was born. In Warsaw there is also Marie Sklodowska
- Curie Institute of Oncology, founded in 1932 as radium Institute Marie Sklodowska - Curie
in cooperation with Polish Prime Minister.

The former Institute of Radium mentioned, now the Curie Institute, is one of the leading
medical, biological and biophysical research centers in the world. It is a private nonprofit
organization that operates a research center of biophysics, cell biology, oncology, and cancer
hospitals. She's in Paris, France. It is interesting to mention also Marie Curie-Sklodowska
University, founded on 23 September 1944 in Lublin. In honor of Marie Curie, money was
printed, as well as a multitude of postmarks not only in Europe, but worldwide.

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 CONCLUSION

Marie Curie was a child of the average Polish family. After graduating from high school at 15,
she realized that she would not be able to achieve her future in Warsaw, whose universities had
no room for women. After a few years, she goes to Paris and enrolls in the famous Sorbonne.
There she meets her future husband Pierre and works with him to explore the radioactivity of
uranium. They reveal two new elements: polonium, named after her native Poland, and radium.
Together with her husband Pierre Curie, she won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her
work on magnetism and radioactivity. When Pierre died in an accident she continued their
research. She accepts the offer of her university and takes over Pier's Department at Sorbonne
and becomes the first woman to work at that university. With Antoine Becquerel, after her
husband's death, in 1911 she won the Nobel Prize for Chemical isolation of pure Radium. It
was the first time in history that a scientist won two Nobel prizes. Though severely affected by
the affair, caused by her relationship with Paul Langevin, she continues her research, but in the
field of radiology. During World War I, she developed X - rays and established a French radio
service for which she continuously and tirelessly trained new officers. As she finally managed
to obtain from the government the establishment of the Radium Institute, in memory of her
dead husband, from 1918 until her death she was the head of this Institute in Paris. Today, the
Curie Institute is one of the world's leading medical, biological, and biophysical research
centers. It is a private nonprofit organization that operates a research center of biophysics, cell
biology, oncology and cancer hospitals.

The importance of Marie Curie's work was recognized worldwide because associations and
institutions were established in her honor. During her lifetime, many institutions recognized her
work for which she received numerous awards and medals, and also received over sixty
honorary titles throughout her life. A woman, a mother, a scientist, a pioneer in almost
everything she started, Marie Curie is a remarkable figure from the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, a person who devoted her whole life to contributing to science, and through her, to
contributing to humanity.

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LITERATURE

[1] Marie Curie and the science of radioactivity, dostupno na

http://www.aip.org/history/curie/contents.htm,

[2] Povijest svijeta, Readers Digest i Mozaik knjiga, Zagreb 2007.

[3] Haber H.: Naš prijatelj atom, Školska knjiga, Zagreb 1962.

[4] Wertheim J., Oxlade C., Stockley C: Slikovni rječnik kemije,

Andromeda, Rijeka 2006.

[5] Maravić B.: Marie Curie-Sklodowska - 100. obljetnica dodjele Nobelove nagrade
za kemiju// Kemija u industriji/ vol. 60, br.12., Zagreb 2011.

http://www.chemgeneration.com/hr/marie-curie/otkri%C4%87e- polonija-i-
radija.html

https://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/curie/war1.htm

http://pse.pbf.hr/hrvatski/elementi/ra/index.html#OPCENITO

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1911/marie-curie-
diploma.html

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