The radium isotope ²²³Ra, an alpha emitter, has a half-life of 11.43 days. You happen to have a 1.0 g cube of ²²³Ra, so you decide to use it to boil water for tea. You fill a well-insulated container with 100 mL of water at 18°C and drop in the cube of radium.

a. How long will it take the water to boil?

b. Will the water have been altered in any way by this method of boiling? If so, how?