Observation that led to the discovery of polonium and radium

Observation that led to the discovery of polonium and radium

  the discovery of polonium was actually done by marie curie, she observed that in a given sample of pure and impure uranium, the impure uranium give out radiations more  than the pure uranium, she concluded that the impure uranium must contain other elements  with mass more than the pure uranium.

 when she isolated the impure uranium , she discovered two elements, polonium named after her homeland poland and the second element radium, the polonium is 4 times more radioactive than while radium is 10 times more radioactive than uranium respectively.

 this element were exracted from uranium ore called the pitchblende

but let’s also look at the observation that led to the discovery of radioactivity,

Henry becquerel collected some sample of uranium ore and illuminated them using a light source such as the sun, he kept them in the dark and observe they emit light( radiations) he concluded that they emit this radiations because of the light they observed,

  contrary to his belief, he  observed that the sample continue to emit radiations independent of either being illuminated or not.