Marie Curie inventions and discoveries are so eminent that we need not talk much. She was awarded Nobel prize twice in life for her contribution to the area of Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. In this article, I am going to talk about Marie Curie inventions and discoveries.
Marie Curie inventions
Let’s find below some of the great Marie Curie inventions:
1. Radioactive discoveries
Curie was intrigued by the stories of German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays and by French physicist Henri Becquerel’s report of comparable “Becquerel rays” emitted by uranium salts, which is one of the Marie Curie inventions.
According to Goldsmith, Curie coated certainly one of two metal plates with a skinny layer of uranium salts.
Then she measured the energy of the rays produced by the uranium utilizing devices designed by her husband.
The devices detected the faint electrical currents generated when the air between two steel plates was bombarded with uranium rays.
She discovered that uranium compounds additionally emitted related rays. In addition, the energy of the rays remained identical, no matter whether or not the compounds have been in a stable or liquid state.
Curie continued to test more uranium compounds. She experimented with a uranium-rich ore referred to as pitchblende, and located that even with the uranium eliminated, pitchblende emitted rays that have been stronger than these emitted by pure uranium. She suspected that this urged the presence of an undiscovered element.
In March 1898, Curie documented her findings in a seminal paper, the place she coined the time period “radioactivity.”
Curie made two revolutionary observations on this paper, Goldsmith notes. Curie acknowledged that measuring radioactivity would enable the discovery of recent components. And, that radioactivity was a property of the atom.
2. Radium and polonium
With each Marie and Pierre having a robust curiosity in physics and chemistry, they usually labored collectively doing analysis, which is one of the Marie Curie inventions.
Specifically, they have been engaged on a challenge collectively observing invisible rays that got off by uranium.
This was a reasonably new discovery at the time and nobody was fairly positive but what they have been.
These rays, initially found by Henri Becquerel, have been identified to cross via stable matter uninterrupted they usually have been identified to conduct electrical energy in the air.
While engaged in this analysis collectively, Marie took particular to be aware of samples within the lab of a cloth referred to as pitchblende.
This was a mineral that contained uranium ore and one that permits off much more radiation than pure uranium.
Based on the proof of the high amounts of radiation in pitchblende, Marie turned satisfied that there was a brand new element that should be at play within the mineral to ensure that its radiation degree to be increased.
The scientific community as an entire was skeptical however Marie and Pierre continued on their speculation.
The duo floor up samples of the mineral and began to try to separate the completely different components current inside.
They utilized analytical chemistry methods to extract a black powder that ended up being 330 instances extra radioactive than pure Uranium. This element they named Polonium, a brand new element.
Marie and Pierre did not cease there although, they discovered that the polonium that the liquid left over after the polonium was extracted was nonetheless incredibly radioactive.
That meant that the pitchblende should’ve had one other element much more radioactive than polonium.
By 1898, the Curies had put collectively enough evidence to assist the existence of one other new element, referred to as radium. However, they had did not acquire a pattern of it.
Pitchblende was and nonetheless is a really precious mineral as a result of it comprises an excessive quantity of uranium – and the Curies could not afford any bigger samples.
After speaking to a manufacturing facility in Austria that removed uranium from pitchblende, they realized that the manufacturing facility was treating the leftover materials as waste.
This waste was much more radioactive than the pitchblende the Curies initially labored with and it was far cheaper.
Marie bought a maintain of a considerable amount of waste and began to extract tiny quantities of the element radium.
Marie would work with 20 kilograms of the mineral waste at a time. Grinding, precipitating, dissolving, crystallizing, and processing out as a lot of radium as she might.
This work was way more harmful than Marie understood and the couple began to really feel sick on a regular basis.
In the fashionable period with extra analysis, we are able to perceive they’re failing well being as radiation illness. Ignorant of the chance, the duo continued their analysis.
By 1902, Marie was in a position to isolate radium and decide it had an atomic weight of 225.93.
It was an arduous journey, however, that they had lastly confirmed the existence of this element, which is one of the Marie Curie inventions. You may also love to know about Leonardo Da Vinci’s Inventions.
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