🔸️In 1896 Marie Curie had a breakthrough discovery while studying Uranium. By using a tool called an electrometer, she was able to detect electrical charge in the air around a uranium sample, and later in samples of minerals containing Uranium. The higher the concentration of Uranium, the more charged in the air. Her findings lead her to hypothesize that radiation didn’t come from particular combinations of elements, but rather from specific types of atoms themselves. She would use her electrometer to systematically survey each element on the table, in addition to many different minerals. By 1897, she had concluded that Uranium and Thorium were the only known radioactive elements -- with Uranium being the most radioactive. While continuing her survey on minerals, she discovered five times the radioactivity of Uranium in a sample called pitchblende, and twice as much in another called torbernite. This meant that there had to be another source of radioactivity, and if her hypothesis was correct… a new element! For more such posts follow @che_mystery_unfolded #chemical_discoveries #periodic_elements #chemistry #chemical_sciences #chemistryiscool #chemical_reactions #chemistry_is_awesome #chemistry_lab #chemistry_experiments #chemical_locha #chemical_hearts #chemistry_is_passion #chemistry_problems #chemistry_solutions https://www.instagram.com/p/CMAjsmeD_68/?utm_medium=tumblr
