In 1903, the three scientists shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery. His then-student Marie Curie studied the phenomenon for her thesis, coining the term “radioactivity.” She and her husband, Pierre, explored the nature of radioactivity and found it was a nuclear, not chemical, characteristic-the same amount of radiation was emitted by pure elements as by elements in minerals. Although fluorescence and phosphorescence were known phenomena, they require an external energy source. In 1896, about a year after the discovery of X-rays, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium spontaneously emits a penetrating radiation that can be registered on a photographic plate. Read on to learn more about the history of misuses and transcendance of radioactivity to modern applications. Radiation also makes it possible to study matter, plants, and animals in an effort to understand the universe better.
Not only can radiation find tumors within the body, it can also destroy them or slow their growth. Illnesses experienced by the “Radium Girls,” as Mollie and her coworkers came to be known, led to historic labor laws that now protect workers from unsafe workplaces.Īlthough it can be destructive, radioactivity can also be beneficial, especially when it comes to medical tests and certain medical treatments. Undark had two main ingredients: a fluorescent phosphor that glows a brilliant green when excited and radioactive 226Ra, which excites the phosphor. Within 5 years of exposure, she died from radium poisoning at age 24 in 1922. She was one of the first to suffer agonizing pain in her limbs and jaw bone. What she didn’t know was that a dangerous nuclear reaction was occurring in the paint and also inside of her body. Each time Mollie molded the brush, she ingested a little bit of the paint. Mollie and her coworkers were trained to shape the bristles of their paintbrushes with their lips. In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the United States Radium Corporation (USRC) used it to create glow-in-the-dark watches, which were popular with soldiers in World War I. Branded Undark, the paint glowed a brilliant green. At the end of a long day, Mollie and her female colleagues would leave the factory glowing, covered in powdered radium-containing paint. Amelia “Mollie” Maggia was considered one of the best among hundreds of women factory workers employed in the early 20th century to paint watches.
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