Rutherfordium

Rutherfordium
Properties
Atomic symbol	Rf
Atomic number	104
Classification	Transactinides
Atomic mass	261 amu
Other Information
Date of discovery	1969
Name of discoverer	A. Ghiorso, Nurmia, Harris, K.A.Y. Eskola, and P.L. Eskola
Name origin	Named in honor of Lord Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand physicist and chemist.
Uses	Research purposes only.
Obtained from	Only a few thousand atoms have ever been obtained by bombarding 249Cf with 12C and 13C ions.

Rutherfordium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Rf and atomic number 104, named after New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford. It is not found in nature and can only be made in a laboratory. It is radioactive; the most stable known isotope, ²⁶⁷Rf, has a half-life of approximately 1.3 hours.