Soundarya Lahari

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

NaMo and RaGa

A question was raised by someone.

What is NaMo made of?


Some chemist attempts to decipher. The answer is NaMo is made of sodium (Na) and molybdenum (Mo). Sodium is part of 'common' salt and our biological system including the heart works thanks to sodium. Sodium metal is soft, lustrous, shining. But, don't mess with it. It is highly reactive. If you want to see the violent reaction try to put some sodium on water.

The second metal in NaMo is molybdenum. Unlike sodium, molybdenum is very very hard and melts at very high temperatures. It is extra tough and is used to make steel and super alloys. Mo is part of some important enzymes in the human body. You can't exist without it.

A combination of Na and Mo makes NaMo soft and at the same time a very tough man. The message is, "Don't mess with him".
You can't stand his reaction. RaGa learned this in a hard way in the parliament.


That brings in the question,

What metals is RaGa made of?



RaGa is made of radium (Ra) and gallium (Ga). Radium is a radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie. Ra was thought to be the cure for all diseases, people were highly excited in the beginning. It was used as medicine for rejuvenation therapy and also for making fluorescent watch dials. All those who were exposed to Ra, including Marie Curie, died of radium poison. After the initial euphoria, nobody wanted to touch radium and lot of efforts were taken to get rid of the remaining radium.

Interestingly Ra is part of a dynasty. It is formed by the decay of thorium and thorium itself is formed by the decay of uranium. Note: It is 'decay' product.

The second element Ga is a vicious metal with a melting point of 29 degree centigrade. You take solid Ga in hand and it will melt. Highly unpredictable. Further, It has absolutely no role in biology. So RaGa is the combination of a poisonous element with a useless element. 

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