Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Radium - The Miracle Substance ' By Frederick Dunlap of a cat, glass becomes deeply tinted with purple, and ghostly numerals shine from the dial of your watch at night,-all because of radium. Radium is one of the decomposition prod- S ucts of the radio-active element, uranium, that is, the ura- nium breaks down into various substances, one of which is radium. Of these, radium is one million times more active than any of the other decomposition products. Radium costs about 31,800,000 an ounce. Yet it disintegrates so slowly that in approximately 1,730 years only one-half of its value is spent. This period of time 11,7303 is known as the half-life of radium. So energetic are the radiations of this remarkable element, that a few cents worth, mixed with other substances, is sutlicient to illuminate the dial of a clock or a compass. Of the ninety-two elements known to Chemistry, radium is by far the most remarkable and interesting. An element is a substance composed of atoms of only one kind. Diierent atoms may unite to make compounds, but the atoms themselves are not changed. For instance, copper atoms will unite with oxygen atoms to make molecules of copper oxide, but even though joined chemically the atoms themselves are unaltered. Atoms in general are exceedingly stable and it is only with the greatest efforts and complicated apparatus that a few can be disrupted. Radium atoms, on the contrary, are subject to a series of explosions or disintegrations and after a long time change their identity. They are no longer radium atoms, but ordinary lead atoms. 5 D 6 IAMONDS turn green and glow weirdly in the dark like the eyes Because of this disintegrating process, radium loses weight. It is ob- vious, therefore, that part of it is escaping or radiating into space. Shoot- ing out at enormous speeds are tiny particles which give the element its name as well as its unique property. These particles are of two kinds. The first, the alpha particle, is an atom of helium, the gas Uncle Sam uses in his dirigibles. The other, the beta particle, is the smallest charge of nega- tive electricity known, an electron. This little beta particle, inlinitesimal in size, gives rise to a vibration or pulsation when it collides with atoms in its path. This pulsation, known as the gamma ray, can penetrate twelve inches of the finest steel. It is similar to the X-ray but is far more pene- Page Twenty-nine T l l J 4

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board of the Romans with our present day newspaper system. In other words, take from us the machine and you take from us the efficiency of our means of transportation and communication. The machine has been a prime factor in spreading information and culture. A distribution of literature such as was unthought of in the past has been made possible by the printing press-a machine. A distinctly American type of architecture, the skyscraper, is springing up-made pos- sible by the machine. In the field of music the piano and the organ are machines. And in the last decade the Way has been opened for the further spread of culture. The radio has appeared. In conclusion let it be said that the machine is a powerful factor. To be sure there are evils attached to the use of the machine. But is there reason enough in the evils of machinery to cut down our use of it? Must We destroy it entirely to be certain it does not become a Frankenstein ? An automobile will not drive itself. Nor can We expect to receive perma- nent benefits from the machine until We learn from study and experience how best to use it. i as , I ef Page Twenty-eight

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trating. The cannon-ball with this rate of penetration could easily pierce armor-plate many miles thick! Another remarkable property of radium is the fact that it is at all times a degree or two warmer than its surroundings. It emits heat at the rate of one hundred and thirty-three calories in the half-life of one gram! This property of radium makes it invaluable in cancer research the world over. But extraordinary precautions must be taken in handling it because it produces severe burns that are exceedingly difficult to heal. Technicians in X-ray laboratories are subject to similar burns which may turn into a tumor or cancer. The burning is caused not by the heat of the metal but oy its radiations which injure the skin cells by their bombardment. The protections used to avoid radium and X-ray burns are lead panels, leaded aprons, leaded gloves, and lead glass shields and goggles. The lead, being so dense, stops most all the emanations. Cases have been known where X-rays, used in a factory's laboratory to inspect steel tools for internal flaws and fractures, have ruined photographic plates in a dresser drawer in a neighboring house. These rays must have penetrated the walls of the factory, the walls of the house, and the wood of the dresser to act on those plates! The gamma rays of radium act the same way,-only more so. Pure metallic radium is silver White and quickly tarnishes in the air. For general purposes, the metal is not usedg instead, a radium compound with bromine, another element, is worked with. Since the amount of ra- dium needed is microscopic, the bromine adds some bulk. This compound, radium bromide, is hermetically sealed in glass or platinum needles, which, in cancer treatment, can be inserted in the abnormal growth to kill the cancer cells. Radium is widely distributed in minute quantities in the soil and min- erals all over the world, but it can only be profitably extracted from cer- tain complex ores of uranium, such as pitchblende or carnotite. The richest ore now comes from the Belgian Congo. The ore must undergo a very complicated series of chemical reactions and thousands of washings and crystalizations. In this process some five tons of chemicals costing many thousands of dollars are needed and in the painstaking process fifty tons of water and many tons of coal are used. The result is a seemingly insignificant amount of radium. But its astounding activity makes up for its lack of quantity. The honor for the discovery of radium goes to Marie Sklowdowska Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie. In 1898 Mme. Curie succeeded in extracting a few hundredths of a gram of radium bromide from a ton of Page Thirty