Chemical Property of Radium
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Chemical Property:
- Melting Point:700°
- Boiling Point:bp 1737°
- PSA：0.00000
- Density:5.5
- LogP:0.22500
- Water Solubility.:evolves H2 in H2O [CRC10]
- Hydrogen Bond Donor Count:0
- Hydrogen Bond Acceptor Count:0
- Rotatable Bond Count:0
- Exact Mass:226.02541
- Heavy Atom Count:1
- Complexity:0
- Purity/Quality:
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98%Min *data from raw suppliers
RADIUM 95.00% *data from reagent suppliers
Safty Information:
- Pictogram(s):
- Hazard Codes:
- MSDS Files:
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SDS file from LookChem
Useful:
- Chemical Classes:Physical/Radiation -> Radionuclides
- Canonical SMILES:[Ra]
- Recent ClinicalTrials:Quadruple Therapy Versus Dual Therapy as Rescue Regimens for Helicobacter Pylori Infection
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Description
Radium has the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Its
atomic weight is 226.0254 g/mol. Radium is an alkaline earth metal that is found in trace amounts in uranium
ores. Its most stable isotope, 226Ra, has a half-life of
1602 years and decays into radon gas.
The heaviest of the alkaline earth elements, radium is
intensely radioactive and resembles barium in its chemical
behavior. This metal is found in tiny quantities in the
uranium ore “Pitchblende”, and various other uranium
minerals. Radium preparations are remarkable for maintaining
themselves at a higher temperature than their
surroundings, and for their radiations, which are of
three kinds: alpha particles, beta particles and gamma
rays.When freshly prepared, pure radium metal is almost pure white, but blackens when exposed to air (probably due to nitride formation). Radium is luminescent when struck by electromagnetic radiation of the proper wavelength (giving a faint blue color). It reacts violently with water to form radium hydroxide and is slightly more volatile than barium. The normal phase of radium is a solid. Since all the isotopes of radium are radioactive and short-lived on the geological time scale, any primeval radium would have disappeared long ago. Therefore, radium occurs naturally only as a disintegration product in the three natural radioactive decay series (Thorium, Uranium, and Actinium series). Radium-226 is a member of the uranium decay series. Its parent is Thorium-230 and its daughter Radon-222. Radium is a decay product of uranium and is therefore found in all uranium-bearing ores. (One ton of Pitchblende yields one seventh of a gram of radium). Radium was originally acquired from pitchblende ore from the Czech Republic. Carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O) sands in Colorado provide some of the element, but richer ores are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes area of Canada. Radium can also be extracted from uranium processing waste.
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Physical properties
Radium is the last element in group 2 and is very similar to the other alkali earth metals,which makes it the largest and heaviest element in the group. It particularly resembles barium,which is just above it in group 2 of the periodic table. Radium is a bright white radioactiveluminescent alkali earth metal that turns black when exposed to air. Its melting point is700°C, its boiling point is 1,140°C, and its density is approximately 5.0 g/cm3.
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Uses
Medical treatment for malignant growths, ind-
ustrial radiography, source of neutrons and radon. Radium’s most important use is as a source of radiation in industry, medicine, and laboratories. The isotope radium-226, which is the most abundant of all the 25 isotopes and has ahalf-life of 1630 years, is the only useful form of the element. It is used in the medical treatment of malignant cancer growth. It kills cancer cells that have spread throughout the body.Other uses are to produce phosphorescence and fluorescence in organic compounds andfor scintillation screens on instruments used to detect radiation. Radium salts were used in thepast to paint the dials of luminous clock faces that glow in the dark. In 1909, the famous Rutherford experiment used radium as an alpha source to probe the atomic structure of gold. This experiment led to the Rutherford model of the atom and revolutionized the field of nuclear physics. Radium (usually in the form of RaCl2) was used in medicine to produce radon gas which in turn was used as a cancer treatment. For example, several radon sources were used in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. The isotope 223Ra is currently under investigation for its use in cancer treatment of bone metastasis. Some of the few practical uses of radium are derived from its radioactive properties. More recently discovered radioisotopes, such as 60Co and 137Cs are replacing radium in even these limited uses because several of these isotopes are more powerful emitters, safer to handle, and available in more concentrated form.
