Marie Curie was present in such minute quantities that they would eventually have to process tons of the ore. In July 1898, Curie and her husband published a joint paper announcing the existence of an element which they named "polonium", in honour of her native Poland, which would for another twenty years remain partitioned among three empires (Russian, Austrian, and Prussian). On 26 December 1898, the Curies announced the existence of a second element, which they named "radium", from the Latin word for "ray". In the course of their research, they also coined the word "radioactivity". To prove their discoveries beyond any
Polonium hydride Polonium hydride Polonium hydride (also known as polonium dihydride, hydrogen polonide, or polane) is a chemical compound with the formula PoH. It is a liquid at room temperature, the second hydrogen chalcogenide with this property after water. It is very unstable chemically and tends to decompose into elemental polonium and hydrogen; like all polonium compounds, it is highly radioactive. It is a volatile and very labile compound, from which many polonides can be derived. Polonium hydride cannot be produced by direct reaction from the elements upon heating. Other unsuccessful routes to synthesis include the reaction of polonium tetrachloride (PoCl) with