![]() ![]() ![]() That's because polonium decays rapidly, and as it does, it releases a large amount of energy in the form of heat. The element is also used as a lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power in satellites and other spacecraft. In both applications, the polonium must be carefully sealed to protect the user. Among the element's limited uses are eliminating static electricity in machinery and removing dust from photographic film. Commercial usesīecause of its high radioactivity, polonium has few commercial applications. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates that only around 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of polonium-210 is produced worldwide each year. ![]() This creates radioactive bismuth-210, which then decays into polonium through a process called beta decay, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Instead, polonium is obtained by bombarding bismuth-209 (a stable isotope) with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. Although it is found in uranium ores, it's not economical to extract as there are only around 100 micrograms of polonium in 1 ton (0.9 metric tons) of uranium ore, according to the Jefferson Lab. Polonium is considered a rare natural element. In northern areas, people who eat reindeer can have higher concentrations of polonium in their blood, because reindeer eat lichens, according to. Lichens are able to absorb polonium directly from the atmosphere. In turn, radium is a decay product of uranium, which is present in almost all rocks and soil formed from rocks. For example, Po-210 is produced during the decay of radon-222 gas, which a result of decaying radium. Traces of Po-210 can be found in the soil and air. Polonium (Image credit: Andrei Marincas Shutterstock) Sources Nonetheless, the Curies were able to pull out the isotope we now know as polonium-209, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. ![]() After months of painstaking work, they finally isolated the radioactive element: a substance 400 times more radioactive than uranium, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).Įxtracting polonium was challenging because there was such a miniscule amount 1 ton of uranium ore contains only about 100 micrograms (0.0001 grams) of polonium. The Curies purchased loads of pitchblende so that they could chemically separate the compounds in the minerals. So, they reasoned that the pitchblende must be harboring at least one other radioactive element. The two noticed that the unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that had been separated from it. When Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, discovered polonium, they were searching for the source of radioactivity in a naturally occurring, uranium-rich ore called pitchblende. Most common isotope: Po-210 which has a half-life of only 138 days.Boiling point: 1,763.6 degrees F (962 degrees C).Melting point: 489.2 degrees Fahrenheit (254 degrees Celsius).Density: 9.32 grams per cubic centimeter.Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 209.Atomic symbol (on the periodic table of the elements): Po.Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 84.This element's radioactive instability is what makes it a fitting candidate for use in atomic bombs. There are 33 known isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons) of polonium, and all are radioactive. ![]()
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