Rutherford

Rutherford (rŭth`ərfərd), borough (1990 pop. 17,790), Bergen co., NE N.J., a residential suburb of the New York City–N New Jersey metropolitan area; inc. 1881. Several pre-Revolutionary houses remain there.

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Rutherford

1. Ernest, 1st Baron. 1871--1937, British physicist, born in New Zealand, who discovered the atomic nucleus (1909). Nobel prize for chemistry 1908

2. Dame Margaret. 1892--1972, British stage and screen actress. Her films include Passport to Pimlico (1949), Murder She Said (1962), and The VIPs (1963)

3. Mark, original name William Hale White. 1831--1913, British novelist and writer, whose work deals with his religious uncertainties: best known for The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881) and the novel The Revolution in Tanner's Lane (1887)

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rutherford [′rəth·ər·fərd]

(nucleonics)

Abbreviated rd.

A unit used to express the decay rate of radioactive material, equal to 10⁶disintegrating atoms per second.

That amount of a substance which is undergoing 10⁶disintegrations per second.

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Rutherford 

a subsidiary unit of the activity of nuclides (radioactive isotopes) in radioactive samples and sources. The rutherford was named in honor of E. Rutherford. Its symbol is Rd. The rutherford is defined as the activity of any nuclide equal to 10⁶ disintegrations of the given nuclide per second. One curie = 3.700 × 10⁴ Rd. The rutherford was proposed in 1946 but has not been widely accepted; it is practically unused.