Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A transuranic element of atomic number 104, symbol Ku; also called rutherfordium, symbol Rf. It is produced in very small quantities by nuclear reactions. In November 1993 the nomenclature committe of the American Chemical Society approved the name rutherfordium for element 104. Russsian investigators who claim to have first discovered element 104, isotope 260 (half-life 0.3 seconds) in 1964 at Dubna proposed the name kurchatovium. However, investigators at Berkely in 1969 produced several isotopes of element 104 but were unable to produce isotope 260; they reported finding isotope 257, with a half-life of 4-5 seconds, isotope 259 with a half-life of 3-4 seconds, and isotope 258 with a shorter half-life.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry A rejected name for rutherfordium.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named for Igor Kurchatov, with -ium.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kurchatovium.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • (symbol Ku) former Soviet-proposed name for element 104, now called rutherfordium; after physicist Igor Kurchatov

    July 10, 2008

  • Sorry Igor. Better luck next major scientific breakthrough.

    July 10, 2008

  • The sad thing is, the IUPAC have now decided that they won't reuse names where one has already been proposed and rejected—so no immortality for Kurchatov, Hahn, or Joliot-Curie.

    July 10, 2008