Marie Curie doubt, the Curies sought to isolate polonium and radium in pure form. Pitchblende is a complex mineral; the chemical separation of its constituents was an arduous task. The discovery of polonium had been relatively easy; chemically it resembles the element bismuth, and polonium was the only bismuth-like substance in the ore. Radium, however, was more elusive; it is closely related chemically to barium, and pitchblende contains both elements. By 1898 the Curies had obtained traces of radium, but appreciable quantities, uncontaminated with barium, were still beyond reach. The Curies undertook the arduous task of separating out radium salt by differential
Field with one element Field with one element In mathematics, the field with one element is a suggestive name for an object that should behave similarly to a finite field with a single element, if such a field could exist. This object is denoted F, or, in a French–English pun, F. The name "field with one element" and the notation F are only suggestive, as there is no field with one element in classical abstract algebra. Instead, F refers to the idea that there should be a way to replace sets and operations, the traditional building blocks for abstract algebra, with other, more flexible