Radium

Atomic Number: 88
Symbol: Ra
Atomic Mass: (226) u
Number of Neutrons: 138
Melting Point: 700°C
Boiling Point: 1737°C
Electrons per shell: 2.8.18.32.18.8.2
Electron configuration: [Rn] 7s²

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Radium is the 88th element in the periodic table and it is the heaviest alkali-earth metal. Pure radium is silvery-white, and like many other alkali-earth metals it reacts with the air (nitrogen and oxygen). Radium's radiation can travel far through the air and if you get on your skin, swallow it, or inhale it, you can be in serious danger. Radium is also the reason Marie Curie eventually died. She carried around pieces of radium and polonium in her lab pockets, which might be the reason for her death. Radium-223 is sometimes used to treat prostate cancer. Most of the radium comes from uranium mines in Democratic Republic of Congo and Canada. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.

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