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Glite Dictionary
rutherford

rutherford

9.9
A former unit of radioactivity equal to one million decays per second
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌðərfərd/
  • Archaic
: rutherford
  • Although the rutherford is an obsolete unit, it is still found in older scientific literature.

Examples

  • The sample was measured to emit radioactivity of 2 rutherfords.

  • This isotope decays at a rate of one rutherford.

  • One rutherford is a unit of measurement.

  • The rutherford measures radioactivity.

  • The radioactivity of the sample was found to be 1.5 rutherfords.

  • In her research, she encountered a device that measured radioactivity in rutherfords.

  • Scientists often reference the rutherford to discuss historical units of radioactivity.

Compounds

Rutherford atom
  • Archaic
1 9.3

A model where an atom's positive charge and mass are in a tiny central nucleus and electrons orbit it

First Baron Rutherford of Nelson
  • Formal
9.9

A noble title given to Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand scientist

Surface Forms

rutherford singular
rutherfords plural

Etymology

The word rutherford is named after the scientist Ernest Rutherford, who first studied the atom and radioactivity. So the unit called a rutherford measures radioactivity, or how many 'decays per second' happen in a sample.