Radioactivity+-+Ashlee+and+Chris

Radioactivity Is the action in which since-dubbed “radioactive” materials emit undetectable rays.

//__ Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of energy from unstable atoms __// (uraniumsa.org)

This happening was discovered (by accident) in 1896 by the French chemist Antoine Becquerel, when he accidently stored some uranium ores in the same drawer as some photographic plates. When the time came for the plates to be used, Becquerel came to realize that the plates had already been partially developed. He investigated further, and discovered that the uranium emitted rays with the property to expose a photographic plate, even whilst separated by black paper of a substantial thickness.

A pair of his graduate students, Marie and Pierre Curie, developed an interest in this field, and decided to pursue their interest further. They discovered that certain elements (uranium, radium and polonium) also gave off the same rays that were responsible for the exposure of Becquerel’s photographic plates.