radium
pronunciation
How to pronounce radium in British English:
UK [ˈreɪdiəm]
How to pronounce radium in American English:
US [ˈreɪdiəm]
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- Noun:
- an intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores
Word Origin
- radium (n.)
- radioactive metallic element, 1899, from French radium, named 1898 after identification by Marie Curie and her husband, formed in Modern Latin from Latin radius "ray" (see radius). So called for its power of emitting energy in the form of rays.
Example
- 1. However , government officials say the cause was under the floor of a nearby house : old bottles containing radium powder .
- 2. Radium , that source of x-rays used to treat some cancers , had induced fatal malignancies in marie curie and her fellow researchers .
- 3. Ironically , its active ingredient is radium , a substance more usually thought of as a cause of cancer than as a treatment .
- 4. But he does manage to track down some elements traders who will sell him magnesium salvaged from ships and radium from the glowing hands of old wristwatches .
- 5. But one reason radium is dangerous is that , as a glance at the periodic table will show , it is chemically similar to calcium , a principal ingredient of bone .