Radium

n.

1.

(Chem.) An intensely radioactive metallic element found (combined) in minute quantities in pitchblende, and various other uranium minerals. Symbol, Ra; atomic weight, 226.4. Radium was discovered by M. and Mme. Curie, of Paris, who in 1902 separated compounds of it by a tedious process from pitchblende. Its compounds color flames carmine and give a characteristic spectrum. It is divalent, resembling barium chemically. The main isotope of radium found in pitchblende, radium-226, has a half-life of 1620 years, decaying first by alpha emission to radon.

Noun

1.

radium - an intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores Synonyms: atomic number 88, Ra

acid, actual cautery, americium, astatine, atomic cocktail, berkelium, brand, brand iron, branding iron, caustic, cauter, cauterant, cauterizer, cautery, cobalt, corrosive, curium, einsteinium, electrocautery, escharotic, fermium, francium, hahnium, hot iron, lunar caustic, mendelevium, mordant, moxa, neptunium, plutonium, polonium, potential cautery, promethium, protactinium, radiocalcium, radiocarbon, radioelement, radioiodine, radioisotope, radiosodium, radon, tagged element, technetium, tracer, uranium