The Curies took pure uranium and a uranium-containing substance. When they measured the amount of radioactivity, there was more in the uranium-containing substance than the pure uranium. Which idea did the Curies most likely develop?

Question

There are more radioactive substances than uranium.
Radioactivity is magnified by mixed substances.
The date of the material varied between the pure substance and mixed substance.
The half-life of uranium in a mixed substance is less than pure uranium.

Answer 1

Based on the information provided, the most likely idea that the Curies developed is:

There are more radioactive substances than uranium.

This conclusion can be drawn from their observation that the uranium-containing substance exhibited greater radioactivity than pure uranium, suggesting that the mixed substance likely contained other radioactive materials in addition to uranium, which contributed to the higher levels of radioactivity.