Rutherfordium was first discovered by a team of scientists led by Georgy Flerov at the Russian Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna in 1964 while bombarding plutonium atoms with neon. Another team led by Albert Ghiorso at the Californian Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) also attempted to produce rutherfordium by bombarding californium atoms with carbon ions and successfully produced isotopes of californium-257 and californium-258. The element was named by IUPAC after Lord Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics.
Basic Information
| Name |
Rutherfordium |
| Symbol |
Rf |
| Atomic number |
104 |
| Atomic weight |
265 amu |
| Standard state |
Presumably a solid at 298 K |
| CAS Registry ID |
53850-36-5 |
| Group in periodic table |
4 |
| Period in periodic table |
7 |
| Block in periodic table |
d-block |
| Color |
Unknown, but probably metallic and silvery white or grey in appearance |
| Classification |
Metallic |
| Melting point |
Unknown |
| Boiling point |
Unknown |
| Density |
Unknown |
| Phase at room temperature |
Solid |
Occurrence
Rutherfordium does not occur in nature.
Rutherfordium - Periodic Table of Videos
Isotopes
Rutherfordium has 15 isotopes with mass numbers ranging from 253Rf to 268Rf. None of them are stable and occur in nature. 267Rf is the longest-lived isotope with a half-life of 1.3 hours.
Production
Rutherfordium can be produced by the nuclear fusion of plutonium-242 with neon ions.
22Ne + 242Pu → 260104Rf + 4 1n
It can also be obtained through bombardment of californium-249 with carbon ions.
24998Cf + 136C → 258104Rf + 4 n
Key Properties
The key properties of rutherfordium are listed below:
- It is a synthetic radioactive metal
- It is expected to have characteristics similar to that of zirconium and hafnium
- It is the first transactinide element.
Applications
Rutherfordium is currently used for research purpose only.
Sources and Further Reading
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