Marie Curie

Introduction

Marie Curie was a famous Polish and French chemist. Born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Later lived in France. Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize for Physics and Chemistry in 1903 and 1911 respectively (the first person to win two Nobel Prizes). Marie Curie discovered radioactive elements like radium and polonium. The first female professor at the University of Paris was Marie Curie. Marie Curie is one of only two people to win Nobel Prizes in two different fields of science. Marie was the wife of Pierre Curie and the mother of Irene Joliet Curie and Eve Curie.

Ho Chi Minh museum. Pierre and Marie Curie, physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. Hanoi. Vietnam

Life

• Marie Curie's birth name was Maria Sklodowska. Marie was born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland. Both parents are teachers.

• When Maria was born and grew up, Poland was a vassal state of Russia. In schools and colleges, subjects were taught in Russian.

Education

• Maria, who passed the school course as the first student, faced a problem in joining the college course.

• Overcoming obstacles, Marie enrolled in a physics degree at Sorbonne University in 1891 under the name Marie, the French word for Maria. Marie graduated in Physics in 1893 and Mathematics in 1894.

The three present at Cosmo Caixa, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein.Wax figures.Cosmo Caixa museum a place seen in the past, but see and reality. Photo taken on: 3.11.2016. Barcelona, Spain.

Research and Radioactive Elements

• Marie first studied the magnetic properties of iron. During this period Marie met a young scientist named Pierre Curie. Both became life partners.

• In 1895, Roentgen discovered X-rays, and in 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered Becquerel rays. After this, Marie also set out to discover new chemical elements that emit radiation.

• First discovered a radioactive element. It was more radioactive than uranium. Marie Curie named the element Polonium in honour of his motherland. It was in this research paper that Marie Curie first introduced the term Radioactive.

• Marie next discovered another element that was more radioactive than uranium and polonium. It was named Radium.

Nobel Prize

• In December 1903 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to Marie, Pierre and Becquerel for their most important research on radioactivity. Mary was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

• In 1911 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Marie a second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry. The award was given in recognition of Marie's discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the extraction of radium and the study of its properties.

Death

• IMarie Curie was severely affected by radiation exposure and developed leukaemia due to Marie continuing radiological research. Marie Curie passed away on July 4, 1934.

Legacy

• Marie gave her Nobel Prize money to build a laboratory so that poor children could benefit from the money for social work. Marie's second Nobel Prize was well used to persuade the French government to support her radium enterprise.

• Marie accepted her husband's professorship at the University of France. Marie Curie was the first woman to hold a professorship in France.

• Marie was the one who refused to patent radium and Marie had no interest in investing in a drug that would save the lives of ordinary people.

• Money was never an object in Marie Curie and Pierre Curie's married life. Marie and Pierre were always in need of money for food, clothing, living, research and their needs. They fulfilled only the basic needs of their life.

• Even at this stage, they did not seek a license for the discovery of radium, despite the enormous economic need. Despite all the persuasion of their friends, they dedicated their inventions to the people and scientific discoveries to the world of science, for the people.

• Even at this stage, they refused the awards, prizes and medals that were coming to them.

Honours and Tributes

• The Polish University, which said it would not give Marie Curie a place to study and work, installed a statue of Marie Curie in the college. The first statue erected in this way was that of Marie.

• U.S. President Warren Harding invited Marie Curie to the US White House on May 20, 1921, to honour her.

• Marie Curie is the only woman to be nominated and awarded a burial in the Pantheon, France's most venerable shrine, for Marie's achievements.

• 2011 marks the 100^th anniversary of Marie Curie winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. So the United Nations declared 2011 as the "International Year of Chemistry" to honour Marie Curie.

• But Poland, which did not let Marie study and did not give her a job, declared 2011 as the year of Marie Curie.

• France is proud to announce 2011 as the Year of Mary Curie in honour of Marie.

Conclusion

Marie Curie was a famous Polish and French chemist. Born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Marie Curie discovered radioactive elements like radium and polonium. The first female professor at the University of Paris was Marie Curie. Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize for Physics and Chemistry in 1903 and 1911 respectively. Marie Curie's continuous radiological research caused leukaemia and Marie passed away on July 4, 1934.

FAQs

Q1. Explain the properties of Radium.

Ans. Radium is the heaviest of the known alkaline earth metals and it is the only radioactive metal in the group. The physical and chemical properties of radium are similar to those of the element barium.

Q2. Explain about isotopes of polonium

Ans. Polonium has 33 known isotopes. Their atomic masses ranging from 188 to 220. Only ${^{210}Po}$ with a half-life of 138.37 days is widely found. Lead or bismuth can collide with an alpha particle or a proton or deuteron in a reactor to produce ${^{209}Po}$ and ${^{208}Po}$, which have long half-lives.

Q3. What are the uses of Radium Chloride?

Ans. Today, radium chloride is still used in the early stages of extracting radium from pitchblende or uraninite ore, consuming tons of ore material for a few milligrams of radium.