Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of radium
- When
- 1898
- Where
- French Academy of Sciences
- Episodes
- 1
Marie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of radium on 26 December 1898. The element was isolated from pitchblende ore mined at Jáchymov. The announcement followed earlier work identifying polonium. The name radium derives from the Latin word for ray, reflecting its energy emission.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. In July 1898, the Curies isolated an element similar to bismuth, named polonium. This discovery enabled them to isolate radioactive compounds and find a new element. By mid-1898, Pierre Curie joined Marie's work on radiation, dropping his crystal research. The Curies began working with pitchblende in April 1898, weighing and grinding a 100-gram sample on 14 April, and had obtained traces of radium by 1898.
Announcement. The Curies announced the existence of radium to the French Academy of Sciences on 26 December 1898. The name radium dates to about 1899, derived from the French word radium, formed from radius (ray), recognizing the element's emission of energy in the form of rays.
Source Material. Radium was discovered from ore mined at Jáchymov. The Curies obtained traces of radium by 1898, but appreciable quantities uncontaminated with barium were still beyond reach. The element was later isolated in metallic state in 1910.
People involved
- Marie Curie · Physicist and chemist
- Pierre Curie · Physicist and chemist
Sources
- Radium Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01
- Marie Curie Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-11
- Pierre Curie Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
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