polonium
a radioactive element discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898; Symbol: Po; atomic number: 84; atomic weight: about 210.
Origin of polonium
1Words Nearby polonium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use polonium in a sentence
Bismuth is a heavy metal that sits between toxic lead and polonium on the periodic table.
Josep Cornella breaks boundaries to make new and better catalysts | Anna Gibbs | September 29, 2022 | Science NewsShe discovered the element radium, and later polonium, near the end of the 19th century.
Once the polonium had been recognized, police were able to trace the source of the poison to the Millennium hotel in Mayfair.
Brits Investigate Assassination of the Spy Who Warned Us About Putin | Nico Hines | July 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat would be Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, the gal who discovered radioactive polonium.
Did he understand that he would now have to live with a sword—not of Damocles but of polonium—hanging over his head?
polonium is also at the center of a major plot line currently playing out on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
Radioactive Revelations Raise the Question: Who Killed Arafat? | Maysoon Zayid | November 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWas the Palestinian leader poisoned by radioactive polonium?
Arafat’s Polonium Poisoning Mystery Resurfaces | Christopher Dickey | November 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOne such reaction uses alpha particles emitted by polonium-210 (or some other alpha emitter) to bombard the element beryllium.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard KeischFour successive alpha captures would give polonium 203, not mercury.
The Bramble Bush | Gordon Randall GarrettIt is well known that Pierre and Marie Curie used this new-found radioactivity to identify the new elements polonium and radium.
A Brief History of Element Discovery, Synthesis, and Analysis | Glen W. Watsonpolonium, named by Mme. Curie in honor of her native country, was the third radioactive element to be discovered.
An Introduction to the History of Science | Walter LibbyHer first discovery was that of the substance polonium—so named by Madame Curie after her native country, Poland.
A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5) | Henry Smith Williams
British Dictionary definitions for polonium
/ (pəˈləʊnɪəm) /
a very rare radioactive element that occurs in trace amounts in uranium ores. The isotope polonium-210 is produced artificially and is used as a lightweight power source in satellites and to eliminate static electricity in certain industries. Symbol: Po; atomic no: 84; half-life of most stable isotope, 209 Po: 103 years; valency: –2, 0, 2, 4, or 6; relative density (alpha modification): 9.32; melting pt: 254°C; boiling pt: 962°C
Origin of polonium
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for polonium
[ pə-lō′nē-əm ]
A very rare, naturally radioactive, silvery-gray or black metalloid element. It is produced in extremely small amounts by the radioactive decay of radium or the bombardment of bismuth or lead with neutrons. Atomic number 84; melting point 254°C; boiling point 962°C; specific gravity 9.20; valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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