Specific Gravity of Radium??? 1 1

[KarenHolcomb]

Hi Guys and Gals! I am trying to find out what the Specific Gravity for Radium is. I think it is 5, but am not sure and I need to be sure. I KNOW one of you has my answer. Thanks in advance- Karen

[Modwriter]

3 hours ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Hi Guys and Gals! I am trying to find out what the Specific Gravity for Radium is. I think it is 5, but am not sure and I need to be sure. I KNOW one of you has my answer. Thanks in advance- Karen

Have coins ever been made using Radium? Radium is an alkaline earth metal. Google search. Radium has a melting point of 700°C, boiling point of 1140°C, specific gravity estimated to be 5, and valence of 2.

[GBrad]

I'll go with Modwriter in that it has a specific gravity of something......... All I know is that I had to install a RADON mitigation system in my home because the Radon levels were off the chart..... I think this had something to do with decomposing Radium in the earth's materials beneath my home, don't quote me on this. So...... Radium is not my friend, just sayin.....

[KarenHolcomb]

@Modwriter No, Coins are not made with Radium. I googled that too. However, thank you for taking the time to confirm my own findings. 

I knew some of the guys would have my answer. Never expected it to be someone new to me. Nice to meet ya, Modwriter! I'm Karen. 

One more question if you don't mind...(I suppose it's here anyway, huh?)Can you even do a Specific Gravity Test on an item you believe to either be made of Radium, or at least to be 'coated' with it? I ask that because it was not metal that was included in all the sites I looked at.

[KarenHolcomb]

@GBrad No, it is nobody's, I don't guess. But back in the day I guess it was used for lots of things. Right up until they realized how bad it is for us. 

From what I read, it is more rare than Gold but got here to earth the same way.

I'm guessing DuPont was a heavy user of it cause that's where my GrDad got it from. His 40 years of service pocket watch. The word Radium along with a number, I think, is stamped into the chain like 18k would be stamped into a Gold chain.

[GBrad]

3 minutes ago, KarenHolcomb said:

The word Radium along with a number, I think, is stamped into the chain like 18k would be stamped into a Gold chain

Not familiar with Radium being used in precious metal items, I may be wrong.  Look at it closely and make sure it doesn't say PALADIUM......Paladium is now one of the most rare and precious metals sought after I believe.  

[Modwriter]

1 hour ago, KarenHolcomb said:

@Modwriter No, Coins are not made with Radium. I googled that too. However, thank you for taking the time to confirm my own findings. 

I knew some of the guys would have my answer. Never expected it to be someone new to me. Nice to meet ya, Modwriter! I'm Karen. 

One more question if you don't mind...(I suppose it's here anyway, huh?)Can you even do a Specific Gravity Test on an item you believe to either be made of Radium, or at least to be 'coated' with it? I ask that because it was not metal that was included in all the sites I looked at.

Hi Karen. I'm Mike. Have you see this website?

https://www.ipgp.fr/en/psn/measurement-of-radium-concentration-in-water

I have had this glass paperweight for decades that was my rockhound grandfather's. If I remember correctly, the gray stone in the middle is uranium.

[KarenHolcomb]

@Modwriter that's pretty neat, Mike.

@GBrad yes, I read where it said Radium was used in watches, well this is what it said, "Manufacturers used radium until the early 1970s for swlf luminous paints for watches, aircraft switches, clocks, and instrument dials'. I suppose that kind of answers my ultimate question. I read it wrong the first time. Guess I just saw the word Watches and I had one in my hands. So I guess it's likely that whatever metal the watch is made of is coated with Radium. 

[KarenHolcomb]

@Modwriter yeah, I don't see me going through all that. Lol! Gee whiz. Right? 

[Morpheus1967]

2 hours ago, KarenHolcomb said:

 

@GBrad yes, I read where it said Radium was used in watches, well this is what it said, "Manufacturers used radium until the early 1970s for swlf luminous paints for watches, aircraft switches, clocks, and instrument dials'. I suppose that kind of answers my ultimate question. I read it wrong the first time. Guess I just saw the word Watches and I had one in my hands. So I guess it's likely that whatever metal the watch is made of is coated with Radium. 

There's a movie about this.  It's called Radium Girls.  I  believe it's on Netflix.  

[KarenHolcomb]

1 hour ago, Morpheus1967 said:

There's a movie about this.  It's called Radium Girls.  I  believe it's on Netflix.  

Are they super girls?

[Morpheus1967]

48 minutes ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Are they super girls?

No.  It's actually a pretty good movie.  It's about how they get sick from the radium because they are always licking the tip of the brushes they use to paint the faces of the watches.  

Radium Girls

[GBrad]

Thanks for that link Morpheus.  After watching the Radium Girls trailer on YouTube, Uh..... Karen..... you may want to purchase a Kryptonite LEAD chest to store that joker in.......or better yet, just don't lick it may be better advice....pretty scary stuff..

[KarenHolcomb]

@Morpheus1967 sounds cool. Thanks.

@GBrad yeah, I'll stick to windows. Lol! 

[RWB]

The minute amounts of radium used in watches and other items with a glass or plastic cover pose no special danger. Uncovered items should be protected from chipping or peeling - the primary hazard being ingestion of radioactive dust. The alpha and beta particles emitted during decay do not penetrate the skin, and the gamma rays are of low ionizing energy. However, in the body radium accumulates in the bone much as does calcium, and there the radiation can cause mutations leading to cancer. Radium has little use and the total global production is about 100 grams per year - mostly from spent fuel rods.

Edited April 22, 2021 by RWB

[Conder101]

18 hours ago, KarenHolcomb said:

So I guess it's likely that whatever metal the watch is made of is coated with Radium. 

The hands and numerals on the dial would be painted with radium paint,  Haven't seen the movie Radium Girls, but I have watched the documentary Radium City which covers the same material.  There  is also a book The Radium Girls which is rather good, but a little disturbing.

As Roger says Radium isn't that dangerous unless it is ingested and that was just what the painters were doing.  In order to get a fine point on their brush they would dip it into the paint, twirl the tip of the brush between their lips, and then paint.  So they were constantly ingesting it.

[KarenHolcomb]

@RWBGood info Sir. Thanks a bunch. I don't suppose it would akin to like asbestos and Black and White Lung but people who worked at places like Dupont that got Cancer they just blamed it on White Lung because if they attributed it to the Radium they'd be more culpable. Anyway, that's off track, I suppose.

@Conder101 Let me first say that there are many new people here in the forum since I was last here. Cool! 

So if the hands and numerals and the like is what Radium would have been used in then why on earth would they stamp it into the chain? Is it THAT toxic, or just a warning? 

I have learned so much here about a topic that I will likely never discuss again in my lifetime. But by gosh if anybody ever broaches the subject in my presents I will be the know-it-all at the party. Lol! They say it's a wasted day when you don't learn new stuff. 

Off subject a teensy bit here...while I haven't seen Radium Girls, I will probably watch it, but has anybody seen The Toxic Avenger? Now there's a B flick that is so awful that it's great.

 

Thanks everyone for participating in my thread and passing on your knowledge. I have enjoyed being back for a while.- Karen

[GBrad]

Excellent clear pic Karen and great info from RWB and Condor!!! 

[zadok]

On 4/22/2021 at 1:21 AM, KarenHolcomb said:

@GBrad No, it is nobody's, I don't guess. But back in the day I guess it was used for lots of things. Right up until they realized how bad it is for us. 

From what I read, it is more rare than Gold but got here to earth the same way.

I'm guessing DuPont was a heavy user of it cause that's where my GrDad got it from. His 40 years of service pocket watch. The word Radium along with a number, I think, is stamped into the chain like 18k would be stamped into a Gold chain.

read ur entire thread on this radium question....just couple questions to clarify, is the watch chain in ur photo attached to the watch ur gfather received? does the watch he received have luminous numerals on the dial? if not the watch chain was prob purchased separately n has nothing to do with his watch, if yes then the small hallmarked link just signifies that radium was used on the dial...highly doubtful that the link is actually made of radium but anything possible?...if watch face has luminous numerals, not a real concern anyway....by the way the rest of the markings on the link are GJ not numbers, if u look on a site called catawiki.com u will see numerous watch chains with the same link etc, most appear to be circa 1900...im just assuming it was a marketing item associated with the watches, doesnt really make much sense to have the link made of radium, but who knows....

[RWB]

Radioactivity has been subject to immense quackery -- cure-alls, virility, pain suppression, mood enhancement, toys, brain improvement, anti-cancer treatment, on and on.... The general public continues to remain largely ignorant about all forms of ionizing radiation, as well being thoroughly confused about electromagnetic radiation. But...there's nothing new about that! Pandemic hucksters sell "virus killing UV" lights that put a weak shortwave UV (approx wavelength of 254 nanometers) beam across your home air handling system. It's too weak to kill anything in the moment air is exposed to it. Plus, much of the air in a home does not pass through residential (or many commercial) systems.

[KarenHolcomb]

@zadokI am sorry I didn't see this earlier. I just this minute crawled into bed but will look at the face tomorrow. I imagine you are correct, as the rest of the guys, that it's probably just used in the numerals and possibly the hands. I sure can't imagine Herky spending an extra dime on a different chain. Just when I looked it up and it was a metal and supposedly a rare one, and then the guys told me about it being used in paint with him retiring from DuPont and them making paint and plastics there... I just drew the wrong conclusion is all. But I know better now.

Btw, I am once again in awe of all you guys in this forum that just know something about everything. I honestly am not joking when I say I feel smarter every time I click away.

[Oldhoopster]

As others have said, the watch wasn't made from metallic radium.  It appears that metallic radium will react with air to form a black coating if radium nitride on the surface.  Not something that would be desirable on a watch chain.  I agree with the others that said the radium stamp refers to the watch dial and not the chain

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium

https://www.chemicool.com/elements/radium.html

http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/Chemistry/periodic_table/Elements/Radium/radium.htm

[RWB]

8 hours ago, KarenHolcomb said:

Btw, I am once again in awe of all you guys in this forum that just know something about everything. I honestly am not joking when I say I feel smarter every time I click away.

Ask us about cicadas on coins.

[Conder101]

It may also mean that radium has been mixed into the metal the chain was made from. In the early 20th century Radium was seen as a "cure all" and the enrgy it gave off as "providing energy and vitality!"  So it was put into all kinds of things with the idea that using, consuming or wearing them would provide health benefits.  There were Radium/radioactive tonics, pills, face cream. bracelets, toothpaste etc.