Appearance and Characteristics
Harmful effects:
Curium is harmful due to its radioactivity. It accumulates in bones and destroys the marrow, stopping the formation of red blood cells.
Characteristics:
Curium is a hard, dense radioactive silvery-white metal. It tarnishes slowly in dry air at room temperature. Most compounds of trivalent curium are slightly yellow in color. Curium is highly radioactive and it glows red in the dark. (4)
Uses of Curium
Curium is mainly used for scientific research purposes.
Curium-244 was used in the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) which measured the abundance of chemical elements in rocks and soils on Mars.
Curium-244 is a strong alpha emitter and is being studied as a potential power source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) for use in spacecraft and other remote applications.