Radiochemistry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The field dedicated to exploring the chemical properties of radioactive materials and their interactions with various substances
2. An area of scientific study concentrating on how radionuclides behave chemically and their effects on other materials
3. A branch of science focused on the chemical characteristics and reactions of radioactive elements along with their impact on different substances

Etymology: Radiochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with radioactive substances, and its name is simply a compound: "radio-" from Latin "radius" (ray, rod, spoke) joined to "chemistry." The chemistry half has a longer past. It descends from Arabic "al-kīmiyāʔ," borrowed through Medieval Latin "alchēmia" and Ancient Greek "khumeia," which referred to the art of transmuting metals, so the older science was itself a field of transformation. The "radio-" element reflects the discovery of radioactivity, a phenomenon named for the rays that substances seemed to emit. Latin "radius" originally meant a staff or rod, and later came to mean a spoke or a beam of light, which is why the same root sits behind the names for emitted rays and for the bone in the forearm.