Name: Radium

Atomic Symbol and Mass Number: Ra [88]

Electron Configuration: [Rn] 7s

Atomic Radii: 283 pm

Electron Affinity: 9.6 kJ/mol

Oxidation States: +2

Electronegativity Value: 0.9

Elemental Group: Alkaline Earth Metal

Uses and Properties:

• Radium is silvery, lustrous, soft, intensely radioactive.

• Radium is used in luminous paint (in the form of radium bromide). 

• Radium and beryllium were once used as a portable source of neutrons. 

• Radium is used in medicine to produce radon gas

• Radium now has few uses, because it is so highly radioactive. Radium-223 is sometimes used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. Because bones contain calcium and radium is in the same group as calcium, it can be used to target cancerous bone cells.

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Lewis Diagram: