Marie and Pierre Curie BY ALEX BRIZENDINE AND

Marie and Pierre Curie BY: ALEX BRIZENDINE AND JAKE DATHER AND KAREEM NELSON

Marie Curie �Marie Sklodowska-Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) �She was a Polish physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. �She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person (and only woman) to win twice.

Marie Curie (Continued) � Both of her parents believed the importance of education, and Marie had her first lessons in physics and chemistry from her father. � Marie dreamed of being able to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, but this was beyond the means of her family. � To solve the problem, Marie and her older sister, Bronya, came to an arrangement: Marie should go work to pay for her sister’s schooling, and when Bronya earned her degree she would help Marie pay for her schooling.

Pierre Curie � 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906 �He was a French physicist, and a pioneer in radioactivity. �In 1903 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife.

Pierre Curie � In his early teens he showed a strong skill for math, especially geometry. � When he was 16, he earned his math degree. By the age of 18 he had completed the equivalent of a higher degree, but did not proceed immediately to a doctorate because he didn’t have enough money. Instead he worked as a Lab Instructor. � In 1880, Pierre and his older brother Jacques demonstrated that an electric potential was generated when crystals were compressed. � To aid their work, they invented the “Piezoelectric Quartz Electrometer”. � Shortly afterwards they demonstrated the reverse effect: that crystals could be made to deform when subject to an electric field. Almost all digital electronic circuits now rely on this in the form of crystal oscillators.

Marie and Pierre and Marie Curie are best known for their pioneering work in the study of radioactivity, which led to their discovery of two elements on the periodic table: Radium and Polonium. Pierre obtained his doctorate just after he had gotten married, but he had already made himself notable in the study of the properties of crystals. Marie Curie spent a lot of years as a teacher and governess before she joined her sister in Paris in order to study mathematics and physics at the Sorbonne, and when she did, she earned degrees in both subjects in 1893 and 1894.

• For her doctoral final paper, Madame Curie decided to study the mysterious radiation that had been discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. • Marie measured the strength of the radiation emitted from uranium compounds and found that it was: A) In proportion to the uranium content B) Constant over a long period of time and C) Uninfluenced by external conditions She called them “Becquerel Rays”

Marie Curie’s Work �Marie decided to test all of the known chemical ores to see if any would emit Becquerel rays. In 1898, she coined the term “radioactive” to describe materials that had this effect. �Thanks to Marie’s Work in 1898 we discovered the elements radium and polonium. �Marie did research in radioactivity. When World War 1 broke out, she suspended her studies.

References �Bio. com. A&E Networks Television, 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. �"The Curies. " PBS, n. d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. �"Marie and Pierre Curie and the Discovery of Polonium and Radium. " Marie and Pierre Curie and the Discovery of Polonium and Radium. Nobel Prize Magazine, 1 Dec. 1996. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

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