(posted for Ronald Smeltzer, by Karen Reeds)
At the suggestion of Karen Reeds, below is part
of my direct reply to Donald Kerr about his
"radium" question:
You are correct to question "one sixth of a gram
of radium for £10" in 1903 in London. I don't
think there was 1/6 gm of radium in the world in
1903. By about mid-1902 Marie Curie had produced
a total of 0.1 gm of radium, and she was the only
source I believe. In 1910 the Curies produced 1
gm total.
The word "radium" here does not mean pure radium,
but a compound, usually radium bromide. In 1907
Rutherford stated that he had 7 milli-grams of
radium for his experiments. On November 11, 1907
Rutherford received a communication from Vienna
that he and Ramsay would be loaned 1/3 gm of
radium bromide to be shared among the two of them
for experiments.
In 1903 radium in any quantity - milli-grams -
was only available in Paris, because only the
Curies knew how to isolate the different
components from the ore. The first commercial
production of radium in Paris began in 1904.
Later the Radium Institute in Vienna began
processing the ore.
In 1921, 1 gm of radium (bromide, I suppose) was
given to Marie Curie during her tour of the U.S.
About $100,000 dollars was "raised" - not sure if
all of this was spent - to obtain this radium to
present to Curie. In 1913 total U.S. production
was 2.1 gm. The world price that year was about
$180 per milli-gram.
If he had carried 1/6 gm of radium in his pocket,
he would have had a bad skin burn after some time.
Ronald K. Smeltzer
Princeton, NJ
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