Rutherfordium

Rutherfordium is a synthetic radioactive chemical element with atomic number 104. It is classified as a transition metal and has no stable isotopes.

Atomic number: The number of protons in an atom’s nucleus, which determines the chemical element. Rutherfordium’s 104 protons define its elemental identity.
Nuclear fission: The splitting of a heavy atomic nucleus into lighter nuclei, often releasing neutrons and energy. Some rutherfordium isotopes are produced in reactions involving heavy target nuclei and emitted neutrons.
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research: An international nuclear-physics research center in Dubna, Russia. The Dubna team reported creating element 104 in experiments beginning in 1964.
Superheavy element: A chemical element with atomic number 104 or greater, generally produced in nuclear reactions and highly radioactive. Rutherfordium is the lightest member of the superheavy-element region.
Isotope: One of several forms of an element, distinguished by the number of neutrons in each nucleus. Rutherfordium is known only through radioactive isotopes with different neutron counts.
Nuclear fusion: A nuclear reaction in which light nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus. Heavy-ion fusion reactions have created rutherfordium nuclei in particle accelerators.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: A United States research laboratory in Berkeley, California, founded in 1931. The Berkeley team independently reported element 104 in 1969 and proposed its own name.
Transfermium wars: A scientific dispute over discovery credit for elements with atomic numbers 104 through 106. Rutherfordium’s disputed discovery helped trigger this wider contest over element priority.
Periodic table: A tabular arrangement of chemical elements by atomic number and recurring chemical properties. Its position beneath hafnium places rutherfordium among the group 4 transition metals.
Particle accelerator: A device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high energies. Accelerators provide the energetic ions needed to bombard rutherfordium-production targets.

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