What is Rutherfordium?
[[File:Ernest Rutherford2.jpg|thumb|[[Ernest Rutherford]]]]'''Rutherfordium''' is a [[chemical element]]. It has also been named '''[[Mendeleev's predicted elements|eka]]-hafnium''' and '''unnilquadium'''. It has the symbol '''Rf''' and has the [[atomic number]] 104. It is a very [[radioactive]] element that does not exist in nature. It has to be made. Rutherfordium is the first [[transactinide element]].. The [[isotope]] that has the longest [[Half-life (element)|half-life]] is <sup>265</sup>Rf. Rutherfordium-265 only has a half life of about 13 hours. The amount of rutherfordium that has been made is not enough to give much information about it. The element has no present uses. It is thought that the chemistry of rutherfordium will be like the chemistry of [[hafnium]]. == History == Rutherfordium was named after [[Ernest Rutherford]]. It was reported that it was [[discovery of the chemical elements|first made]] in [[1964]] at the [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] at [[Dubna]], [[Russia]]. The [[scientist]]s reported that they [[bombardment|bombarded]] a different chemical element <sup>242</sup>[[plutonium|Pu]] with the element <sup>22</sup>[[neon|Ne]]. The neon-22 [[particle]]s were [[acceleration|accelerated]] to an [[energy]] of 113 to 115 [[MeV]]. They claim they detected [[nuclear fission]] tracks in a special type of glass with a [[microscope]] showing that a new element was there. In [[1969]] scientists at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] made rutherfordium by [[collision|banging together]] <sup>249</sup>[[californium|Cf]] and <sup>12</sup>[[carbon|C]] at very high energies. These scientists said that when they tried to make rutherfordium in the same way as the scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research none of the element was produced. The scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research claimed that it was first [[detection|detected]] in Dubna. They thought it should be named ''dubnium'' (''Db'') or ''kurchatovium'' (''Ku'') for [[Igor Vasilevich Kurchatov]] ([[190