Question

Consider the following statements based on the work of Marie Curie:

a. Impurities in pitchblende (an ore of uranium) are a sufficient condition for increase in strength of emitted rays.

b. Diluted pure uranium (i.e., uranium plus impurities in pitchblende) is a sufficient condition for increase in strength of rays

c. An unknown element was a sufficient condition for the increase in strength of rays.

Use statements a, b, and c to summarize Marie Curie’s thought process that led to the discovery of radium.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) The statements Curie has made are clearly in stages of the process of the increment of the strength of the rays that would radiate from Uranium. Let us assume that she is talking about a recipe in order to understand the statements better. For the first statement let us assume that she is talking about how pieces of chicken are sufficient for adding flavour to a chicken soup. Here, she talks about how pitchblende is sufficient for increasing the strength of the emitted rays. In the second statement, we can assume that chicken broth which contains tiny pieces of chicken are sufficient to increase the flavour of the chicken soup. Therefore, diluted pure uranium with articles of pitchblende is sufficient to increase the strength of the rays in uranium. In the third statement, we can assume that the chicken itself was sufficient to increase the flavour of the soup. Therefore, an unknown element (present in the impurities in pitchblende) was sufficient to increase the strength of the rays of the uranium.