Rutherfordium

Rutherfordium (pronounced /ˌrʌðərˈfɔrdiəm/ RUDH-ər-FOR-dee-əm) is a chemical element with the symbol Rf and atomic number 104. This is a radioactive synthetic element whose most stable known isotope is Rf with a half-life of approximately 1.3 hours. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that rutherfordium behaves as the heavier homologue to hafnium in group 4 (see below). Element 104 was reportedly first detected in 1966 at the Joint Institute of ... more

Rutherfordium (pronounced /ˌrʌðərˈfɔrdiəm/ RUDH-ər-FOR-dee-əm) is a chemical element with the symbol Rf and atomic number 104. This is a radioactive synthetic element whose most stable known isotope is Rf with a half-life of approximately 1.3 hours. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that rutherfordium behaves as the heavier homologue to hafnium in group 4 (see below). Element 104 was reportedly first detected in 1966 at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research at Dubna (then in U.S.S.R.). Researchers there bombarded Pu with accelerated Ne ions and separated the reaction products by gradient thermochromatography after conversion to chlorides by interaction with ZrCl4. The team identified a spontaneous fission activity contained within a volatile chloride portraying eka-hafnium properties. Although a half-life was not accurately determined, later calculations indicated that the product was most likely Rf: In 1969 researchers at the University of California, Berkeley conclusively... less