Name       : Radium
Symbol     : Ra
Atomic #   : 88
Atom weight: 226
Melting P. : 700
Boiling P. : 1140
Oxidation  : +2
Pronounced : RAY-di-em
From       : Latin, radius, "ray"
Identified : Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898
Appearance : Silvery white, radioactive element
Note       : Glows in dark with an eerie bluish light
             
[Properties]

  Radium is the last element in Group IIA on the periodic chart. This means
it is the heaviest of the alkaline-earth metals that comprise this group.
Like the others in the group, radium is metallic and thus a good conductor
of electricity. It appears to have a brilliant white color when fresh cut,
but the intensity quickly lessens as a thin nitride coating develops.
  Virtually all radium is derived fromthe byproducts of uranium refining
operations as radium chloride and radium bromide.