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Analysis of the Mineral Radium Radium, an alkaline earth metal, is one of the most important of the naturally occurring radioactive elements, due to its relatively long life and to the fact that it is the parent of a series of radioactive elements which emit therapeutically and industrially useful radiations. Prior to the develop- ment of the Atomic Energy Program, in which Uranium, the parent of the entire radioactive series of which radium is a member, plays an important part, radium was without doubt the most important radioactive element. It was discovered by Professor and Madame Curie in Paris in 1898 as the result of an attempt to identify the source of invisible radiations which it was noted were emitted by certain minerals and which affected unexposed photographic plates. A radioactive element is one which possesses the chemical and physical properties of a normal element, but differs from a normal stable element in that a portion of the radioactive element is constantly undergoing change, at a fixed rate, into other elements. This change is the result of the emission by the element of alpha, beta and gamma particles or rays. In order to understand this differentiation, a brief description of the structure of matter is necessary. All matter consists of one or more of ninety-six basic elements. Prior to the recent production of the elements Plutonium, Neptimium, Curium and Americum under the Atomic Energy Program, ninety-two elements were known and of these radium was Number 88. The elements are known to consist of atoms and since radioactive characteristics involve Atomic changes and Atomic changes produce different elements a knowledge of Atomic structure is essential. The atom consists basically of a compact central portion known as the Nucleus, composed of positively charged electrified particles called Protons and neutral particles consisting of a closely bound positive and negative particle called Neutrons. Revolving about this central nucleus, and not unlike our own solar system, are