Carter Hausen
Mr. Back
Innovations and Discovery
Grade: 94%
Published: 12/1/2021
Marie Curie Research Notes
Research Notes for the speech, ‘On the Discovery of Radium,’ By Marie Curie (Spoken May 14, 1921)
(1) First Paragraph (Spoken May 14, 1921)
Lines 1-3
Marie Curie knew many things about radioactivity
Lines 3-4
The conditions of the discovery of Radium were peculiar
(2) Second Paragraph (Looking Back on Year: 1897)
Lines 1-2
Professor Curie (Pierre Curie) and Marie Curie worked in the laboratory of the school of Physics and Chemistry giving lectures
Lines 2-4
Marie Curie was working on uranium rays (uranium rays were discovered two years before (in 1895) by Professor Becquerel)
Lines 4-6
Marie Curie studied the measurement of uranium rays
Marie Curie wanted to know if there were other elements giving off the same radiation.
Lines 6-8
Marie Curie researched all the known elements and their compounds and found that only uranium, uranium compounds, thorium, and thorium compounds are radioactive, but the other elements and compounds were not found radioactive.
Lines 8-10
The amount of radiation emitted from uranium depends on the proportion of the content of the radioactive material.
Line 10
The more radioactive material, the more radioactivity.
Lines 10-11
Radioactivity is an atomic property of uranium and thorium.
Lines 11-13
Marie Curie took measurements of minerals that contain uranium or thorium or both and found they were radioactive.
Lines 13-15
When Marie Curie measured the radioactivity of the minerals (lines 11-13), the radioactivity measurement was higher than it should be.
Lines 15-16
Marie Curie thought that there may be some unknown element with much higher radioactivity than uranium and thorium in the minerals (lines 11-15).
Lines 16-17
Marie Curie wanted to find and separate the unknown element (lines 15-16) from the minerals (lines 13-15) with Professor Curie (Pierre Curie).
Lines 17-19
Marie and Pierre Curie thought it would take several weeks or months, but it took them many years of hard work to separate the unknown element from the minerals. (lines 16-17)
Lines 19-20
They found several new discoveries when they separated the minerals (lines 13-15), but the most important is the element radium, which could be separated in a pure state.
Lines 20-22
The special interest of radium is that the intensity of the rays is millions of times greater than the uranium rays.
Line 22
The effects of the rays are why Marie Curie thought radium was important.
Lines 22-24
Marie Curie thought that the most important property of the rays is the production of physiological effects on the cells of the human organism.
Lines 24-25
Marie Curie found that radium can be used to cure several diseases (Note: Little did she know that while radiation may be the cure for some diseases, radiation causes other problems like radiation sickness)
Lines 25-26
Marie Curie found that radiation treatments were successful and cures cancer.
Lines 26-29
The medical ‘need’ made it necessary to mine and purify radium in large quantities in France and America.
Lines 29-30
America produces many grams per year, but the price is still very high because the percentage of radium in the ore is so small.
Lines 30-31
Radium is more than 100 times more expensive than gold.
Lines 33-36
Scientific work should not be done for the sole usefulness of the discovery. It should be done for scientific purposes.
Lines 36-38
Marie Curie explained that the radiation of radium is expelled in a way that is very similar to light.
Lines 38-39
The atoms of radium are destroyed because it emits radiation and essentially shoot protons away, creating radioactive decay.
Lines 39-42
Once radioactive elements decay, they become ordinary elements, such as helium and lead.
Lines 42-end
Unstable atoms may undergo spontaneous changes.
(3) Third Paragraph (Spoken May 14, 1921)
Lines 1-2
Radium has similar properties to many other radioactive elements such as polonium, mesothelium, radiothorium, and actinium.
Lines 2-3
Radioactive gasses, named emanations, are also similar to radium.
Research Notes for the online article, ‘Marie Curie,’ By Brandon Lutnick. Submitted as coursework at Stanford University on March 20, 2019
(1) First Paragraph (Introduction)
Maria Slodowska was more commonly known as Marie Curie.
Marie Curie was born in Warshaw, Poland on November 7, 1867.
Marie Curie received her early education from her father (Wladyslaw Sklodowski), then moved to Paris, France in 1891 to continue her studies at the Sorbonne, where she would earn a degree in mathematics and physics.
In 1894 Marie Curie met Pierre Curie, her future husband and a professor in the school of physics.
In 1895, Marie and Pierre Curie were married.
[1] Part 1
Marie and Pierre Curie succeeded greatly in chemistry, as they built upon the discovery of Henri Becquerel (The discovery of radioactivity in 1896).
Marie and Pierre Curie were married for about nine years (1895 to 1904), then Pierre Curie passed away. Marie Curie then was given the position of professor of general physics in the faculty of sciences at the Sorbonne.
[2] Part 2
Marie Curie was the first woman to ever hold this position (Lines 17-21)
Marie Curie next became the appointed director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris. She was also a member of the Coseil du Solvay from 1911 until her passing.
Although Marie Curie produced incredible achievements, she always received oppression from male scientists. She never had a great compensation for her work.
By the late 1920s, Marie Curie’s health weakened, likely because of the radiation that she was in contact with while researching.
(2) Second Paragraph (Contributions to Science)
Marie and Pierre Curie massively helped the field of chemistry after Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896.
Marie and Pierre Curie announced their isolation of polonium. Polonium was named after Marie Curie’s homeland, Poland. That same year, Marie and Pierre Curie announced their discovery of radium.
The research that Marie and Curie performed was groundbreaking. Marie and Pierre Curie’s methods for the separation of radium made it possible to carefully study its properties, especially the therapeutic properties.
Marie Curie’s research was very helpful during the second world war because it made X-rays possible.
X-Rays, a groundbreaking discovery, were discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen, a German physics professor in 1895. X-rays have wavelengths ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers.
[1] Part 1
Marie Curie’s element radium was used for the γ-rays in the X-Ray machines. γ-rays have a shorter wavelength and higher photon energy than X-Rays. γ-rays help make more accurate X-Rays.
[2] Part 2
Marie Curie assisted in equipping ambulances with the new X-Ray equipment.
The Red Cross made Marie Curie the head of the radiological service for her bravery and intelligence.
(3) Third Paragraph (Awards)
In 1903, for the Curie’s research on radiation discovered by Becquerel, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Becquerel split the Nobel Prize for Physics. In 1911, Marie Curie received her second Nobel prize, but this time in the field of chemistry. In 1903, Marie Curie received the Davy Medal of the Royal Society. In 1921, US President Harding gave Marie Curie one gram of radium on behalf of the women of America.
Works Cited:
Curie, Marie. “On the Discovery of Radium.” Vers. Original. 14 May 1921.
gos.sbc.edu. Ed. Vassar College. 10 November 2021. <http://gos.sbc.edu/c/curie1921.html>.
Lutnick, Brandon. “Marie Curie.” Vers. Original. 20 March 2019. large.stanford.edu.
Ed. Stanford. 10 November 2021. <http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2019/ph241/lutnick2/>
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