Version User Scope of changes
Oct 22 2006, 2:57 AM EDT (current) StephanieChiou 4 words added, 2 words deleted
Oct 22 2006, 2:51 AM EDT StephanieChiou 2 words added, 1 word deleted, 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted

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My Nucleus


Rutherfordium Model

  • I have 104 protons and
  • 157 neutrons in my nucleus.
  • I have an atomic mass (# of protons + # of neutrons) of 261.
My Isotopes Include:
  • Rf - 254 (Half(Half Life:Life: .5 ms)
  • Rf - 257 (Half Life: 4.8 s)
  • Rf - 258 (Half Life: 13 ms)
  • Rf - 259 (Half Life: 3 s)
  • Rf - 260 (Half Life: .3s)
  • Rf - 261 (Half Life: 65s)
  • Rf - 265 (Half Life: 13 h)

My Electrons


[Rn] 5f ^ 14 . 6d ^ 2 . 7s ^ 2

    Electron Configuration

    My Properties


    • My atomic number is 104.
    • My atomic mass is 261.
    • My color is probably metallic and silvery white or gray in appearance.
    • My state at room temperature is solid
    • My atomic radius is unknown.
    • My density is unknown.
    • My boiling point is unknown.
    • My melting point is unknown.
    Rutherfordium Properties


    My Home

    (Body, Planet, Universe)

    I make up:

    • 0% of the human body,
    • 0% of Earth,
    • and 0% of the universe.
    I am a synthetic element and am not present in the environment at all.




    I am Rutherfordium!

    Hi, I'm the element, Rutherfordium! Because I am man-made and not naturally found in the environment, and I am only around for a little while, as I have very short half lives, it is hard for researchers to learn about me. So, there is very little known information about me. However, researchers can assume that my properties are very similar to the other members of my family, Group 4, such as Hafnium and Zirconium.

    Periodic Table of Elements (Group 4 & Rutherfordium)

    My Compounds

    (My Friends!)

    Unfortunately, I don't have any friends. I do not form any compounds.
    Atom Without Compounds

    My Story


    Only small amounts of me have ever been made. In 1964 in Dubna, Russia, scientists claimed my discovery. They suggested my name to be Kurchatovium, with a symbol of Ku, in honor of Igor Vasilevich Kurchatov, the former head of the Soviet Nuclear Research. The first samples were made by a nuclear reaction involving a fusion between an isotope of Plutonium, Pu-242, and one of Neon, Ne-22. However, in 1969, researchers at Berkely, CA reported discovering me. Their experiements involved reaction high energy collision between Cf-249 and C-12. They were also unable to reproduce the Russian synthesis from 1964. Then I was renamed Rutherfordium, after the New Zealand physicist, Ernest R. Rutherford.
    Ernest R. Rutherford (New Zealand $100 bill)

    My Jobs


    I have no uses known. However, my experimental finding was something new, something interesting. Even if I last for only a brief time, I have some significance. I can help theorists understand what really works in their theories.

    Periodic Table of Elements

    Element Song


    Here's a fun video. Not only does he sing the names of the elements, but there are also pictures. However, Rutherfordium is not included. In the last line he sings, "These are the only ones that the news has come to Harvard, and there may be many others but they haven't been discovered," Rutherfordium is included in that category. The song was written by Tom Lehrer in 1959, but Rutherfordium was discovered 10 years later. But now, in 2006, Rutherfordium IS known by Harvard.



    Rutherfordium Element Card