Rutherfordium (Rf)
| Atomic Number | 104 |
|---|---|
| Atomic Mass | 267 u |
| Category | Transition metal |
| Electron Config | [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d² 7s² |
| Melting Point | 2400 K |
| Boiling Point | 5800 K |
| Ionization Energy | 580 kJ/mol |
| Crystal Structure | Hexagonal Close-packed (predicted) |
| Discovered By | Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (1964) |
Brief Introduction
Rutherfordium (Rf) is a synthetic, radioactive transactinide element. It is the first element in the 6d transition metal series. Key details about Rutherfordium (Rf) are as follows:
Uses: No practical applications. Used only in scientific research to study the properties of superheavy elements and test theoretical models.
Production/Extraction: Produced by bombarding plutonium or californium with neon or oxygen ions in particle accelerators. Only a few atoms are produced at a time.
History: Discovered independently in 1964 by teams at Dubna, Russia and UC Berkeley. Named after Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, after a naming controversy.
Health Effects & Safety: Highly radioactive. Extreme rarity means no health data, but assumed to be extremely dangerous.
Price/Market: Not commercially available. Produced only for research.
Properties: Radioactive, predicted to be a solid metal, most stable isotope Rf-267 has half-life of about 1.3 hours, expected to behave chemically similar to hafnium.
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