Radium vs. Iridescent — What's the Difference?

Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals.

Producing a display of lustrous, rainbowlike colors

The chemical element of atomic number 88, a rare radioactive metal of the alkaline earth series. It was formerly used as a source of radiation for radiotherapy.

Brilliant, lustrous, or colorful in effect or appearance

A rare, brilliant white, luminescent, highly radioactive metallic element found in very small amounts in uranium ores, having more than 40 isotopes and isomers with mass numbers between 201 and 234, of which Ra-226 with a half-life of 1,600 years is the most common. It is used as a neutron source for some research purposes and was formerly widely used in cancer radiotherapy and as a constituent of luminescent paints. Atomic number 88; melting point 696°C; boiling point 1,737°C; specific gravity 5; valence 2. See Periodic Table.

(not comparable) Producing a display of lustrous, rainbow-like colors; prismatic.

The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal.

Brilliant, lustrous, or colorful.

A type of cloth woven from silk or synthetic yarn, often with a shiny appearance.

Having colors like the rainbow; exhibiting a play of changeable colors; nacreous; prismatic; as, iridescent glass. See iridescence.

To treat (a tumour, etc.) with radium.

Varying in color when seen in different lights or from different angles;

An intensely radioactive metallic element found (combined) in minute quantities in pitchblende, and various other uranium minerals. Symbol, Ra; atomic weight, 226.4. Radium was discovered by M. and Mme. Curie, of Paris, who in 1902 separated compounds of it by a tedious process from pitchblende. Its compounds color flames carmine and give a characteristic spectrum. It is divalent, resembling barium chemically. The main isotope of radium found in pitchblende, radium-226, has a half-life of 1620 years, decaying first by alpha emission to radon.

Having a play of lustrous rainbow-like colors;

An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores