Radium's Appearance: Can You See It?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Shukie
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the appearance of radium, specifically Radium-226, and the potential identification of small particles found on a participant's hands after handling a radium source. Participants explore the characteristics of radium and its compounds, as well as the implications of the observed particles.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the visual characteristics of radium, noting the absence of images online and expressing concern about finding black grains on their hands after handling a Radium-226 source.
  • Another participant provides a link to a source that shows radium in various compositions, mentioning that pure radium is said to have a bluish hue.
  • A different participant suggests that radium compounds can vary widely in appearance, comparing them to carbon and oxygen compounds, and proposes that the particles may simply be dirt rather than radium.
  • One participant questions whether the "dirt" glows in the dark and agrees with the previous suggestion that the amount of radioactive material is likely very small.
  • The original poster mentions the strength of the radium source and estimates the mass of Radium-226, while also expressing doubt about the particles being anything other than dirt, despite the unusual circumstances of their presence.
  • Concerns are raised about the potential for contamination from other radioactive materials being used in the same environment, such as Strontium-90 and Americium-241.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the particles are likely not radium, with multiple suggestions pointing towards dirt as a more plausible explanation. However, there is no consensus on the exact nature of the particles or the implications of their presence.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the mass of radium in the source and the implications of handling such materials. There is also a lack of clarity about the potential for contamination from other radioactive sources.

Shukie
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What does radium actually look like? Oddly enough, I couldn't find a single picture of radium on google. The reason I ask is because we were doing some experiments with a 20 year old Radium-226 source at school today and when I came home, I found a number of tiny, black, sand-like grains on my hands. I can't imagine this could actually be radium, as the source would have to be leaking for that, but you never know.
 
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Elemental radium is an active metal. Radium compounds can look like pretty much anything: what does a carbon compound look like? An oxygen compound?

Frankly, it sounds like what's on your hands is plain old dirt. You're dealing with microgram quantities - perhaps a milligram at most - of radium for a school-sized source. If you can see the dirt, you are talking about tens or hundreds of milligrams.
 
Does your "dirt" glow in the dark?

I'm inclined to agree with Vanadium though, unless you got your hands on an unusually powerful source, the total amount of radioactive material inside the source should be less than a grain of sand.
 
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Well, the strength of the source was 5 micro Curie (185 kBq). According to another teacher I asked, this would correspond with roughly 5 micrograms of Radium-226. I can't really imagine how much mass that would be, but what I found on my hands was roughly 10-20 tiny specks, maybe a little more. Some others were also using Strontium-90 and Americium-241 of 130 and 179 kBq respectively. I wonder if those would need more mass to achieve the same strength.

To be honest, I doubt it could be anything other than dirt that the cat left behind on my chair or something, as I had already washed my hands a few times after I got home and I'd changed my clothes, so I would have had to pick it up from my backpack or something, which I hadn't touched anymore, so the cat would have had to touch my backpack and then drag it over to my chair. I know rationally it doesn't make sense, but I guess I am sort of OCD about these things.
 

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