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Periodic Table of Elements

Element Rutherfordium - Rf

Comprehensive data on the chemical element Rutherfordium is provided on this page; including scores of properties, element names in many languages, most known nuclides of Rutherfordium. Common chemical compounds are also provided for many elements. In addition technical terms are linked to their definitions and the menu contains links to related articles that are a great aid in one's studies.

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Overview of Rutherfordium

Rutherfordium's Name in Other Languages

  • Latin: Rutherfordium
  • Czech: Rutherfordium
  • Croatian: Ruthefordij
  • French: Rutherfordium
  • German: Rutherfordium - s
  • Italian: Rutherfordium
  • Norwegian: Rutherfordium
  • Russian: Рутерфордий
  • Spanish: Ruterfordio

Atomic Structure of Rutherfordium

Chemical Properties of Rutherfordium

Physical Properties of Rutherfordium

Regulatory / Health

  • CAS Number
    • 53850-36-5
  • NFPA 704
    • Health:
    • Fire:
    • Reactivity:
    • Special Hazard: Radioactive<
    • OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
      • No limits set by OSHA
    • OSHA PEL Vacated 1989
      • No limits set by OSHA
    • NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit (REL)
      • No limits set by NIOSH
    • Levels In Humans:
      Note: this data represents naturally occuring levels of elements in the typical human, it DOES NOT represent recommended daily allowances.
      • Blood/mg dm-3: nil
      • Bone/p.p.m: nil
      • Liver/p.p.m: nil
      • Muscle/p.p.m: nil
      • Daily Dietary Intake: nil
      • Total Mass In Avg. 70kg human: nil

    Who / Where / When / How

    • Discoverer: A. Ghiorso, Nurmia, Harris, K.A.Y. Eskola, and P.L. Eskola
    • Discovery Location: Berkeley California
    • Discovery Year: 1969
    • Name Origin:
      In honor of Lord Ernest R. Rutherford, a New Zealand physicist and chemist
    • Abundance of Rutherfordium:
      • Earth's Crust/p.p.m.: nil
      • Seawater/p.p.m.: nil
      • Atmosphere/p.p.m.: nil
      • Sun (Relative to H=1E12): N/A
    • Sources of Rutherfordium:
      Bombarding plutonium with accelerated 113 to 115 MeV neon ions. Also by bombarding a target of Cf249 with C12 nuclei of 71 MeV, and C13 nuclei of 69 MeV. Only several thousand atoms of this element have been produced.
    • Uses of Rutherfordium:
      This element is of research interest only.
    • Additional Notes:
      Evidence of element 104 was first detected at the Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna (USSR) in 1964 by bombarding plutonium with accelerated 113 to 115 MeV neon ions. By measuring fission tracks in a special glass with a microscope, the scientists detected an isotope that decays by spontaneous fission. The isotope was thought to be Rf260 with a half life of 0.15 to 0.3 seconds. It was not until 1969, however that the group in Berkley were able to chemically separate element 104 and positively identified two possibly three isotopes of the element. The detection vs. chemical isolation of this element caused a dispute as to who really discovered this element. This dispute was settled in 1992 by the IUPAC when they concluded that credit for the discovery should be shared between the Russian and American scientists. In August of 1997 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announced the official naming of this element as Rutherfordium with the atomic symbol of Rf. The IUPAC choose Rutherfordium over the Russians' choice of Kurchatovium, which was in honor of Igor Vasilevich Kurchatov (1903-1960), former Head of Soviet Nuclear Research.

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    References

    A list of reference sources used to compile the data provided on our periodic table of elements can be found on the main periodic table page.

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