rutherfordium [Rf]
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Introduction
Named after New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford. First discovered in 1964 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, named kurchatovium (Ku). The discovery was contested by Seaborg & others. A different isotope was produced in 1969 by Albert Ghiorso & colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley. IUPAC gave element 104 the name unnilquadium, the Latin word for 104, but this name did not stick.
Occurrence
artificially produced
Characteristics
- six isotopes identified, all radioactive
- Rf-261 is longest lived with 1/2 life of 62 seconds
Uses
none