Rutherford

[ ruhth-er-ferd, ruhth- ]

noun

1. Daniel, 1749–1819, Scottish physician and chemist: discoverer of nitrogen.
2. Ernest 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, 1871–1937, English physicist, born in New Zealand: Nobel Prize in chemistry 1908.
3. John Sherman Johnny, born 1938, U.S. racing-car driver.
4. Joseph Franklin, 1869–1942, U.S. leader of Jehovah's Witnesses.
5. Dame Margaret, 1892–1972, British actress.
6. a city in NE New Jersey.

rutherford

¹

/ ˈrʌðəfəd /

noun

1. a unit of activity equal to the quantity of a radioactive nuclide required to produce one million disintegrations per second rd

Rutherford

²

/ ˈrʌðəfəd /

noun

1. RutherfordErnest, 1st Baron18711937MBritishNew ZealandSCIENCE: physicist Ernest , 1st Baron. 1871–1937, British physicist, born in New Zealand, who discovered the atomic nucleus (1909). Nobel prize for chemistry 1908
2. RutherfordMargaret18921972FBritishTHEATRE: stage actressFILMS AND TV: actress 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. RutherfordMark18311913MBritishWRITING: novelistWRITING: writer 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)

Rutherford

/ rŭth′ər-fərd /

1. New Zealand-born British physicist who was a pioneer of subatomic physics. He discovered the atomic nucleus and named the proton. Rutherford demonstrated that radioactive elements give off three types of rays, which he named alpha, beta, and gamma, and invented the term half-life to measure the rate of radioactive decay. For this work he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Rutherford¹

C20: named after Ernest Rutherford

Biography

Current theories of nuclear fission and fusion reactions are well accepted; these reactions now drive nuclear power plants and atomic bombs. But when the notion that some atoms could spontaneously disintegrate into other atoms was first advanced in 1902 by Ernest Rutherford, it found resistance among his colleagues, who believed that the chemical elements of which known matter was composed were indestructible and immutable. Undaunted, this New Zealand–born physicist then made a large number of discoveries in rapid succession, including the discovery of three kinds of radioactivity (alpha, beta, and gamma rays), and his brilliance and prodigious output soon won over his critics. By the time he garnered the Nobel Prize for chemistry six years later, he had written 80 more scientific papers. His explanation in 1903 of the radioactive decay of uranium—that pieces of uranium atoms were literally breaking off and being emitted, thereby transforming the uranium into a new element—was compelling and soon well accepted. Astonishingly, what are arguably his greatest discoveries came three years after he won the Prize. In 1911, he showed that atoms were composed of smaller constituents: electrons orbiting around a positively charged nucleus. While the rudiments of this idea had already been proposed by others, Rutherford's experimental research conclusively demonstrated its correctness. Rutherford later identified the proton, one of the particles found in the nucleus. The Rutherford atom, as it came to be known, is the model of atomic structure from which today's well-established quantum mechanical theories of atomic structure derive. Rutherford also succeeded in inducing the first artificial fusion, fusing deuterium atoms together into radioactive tritium and a light isotope of helium.

Example Sentences

The bill followed a recommendation from the mental health commission chaired by Rutherford.

From Washington Post

Rutherford, 64, had been mulling a run but as of June had amassed under $25,000 to finance it, dramatically less than other potential contenders.

From Washington Post

Hogan and Rutherford in 2018 became just the second Republican ticket in a half-century to win reelection in Democratic-dominated Maryland, relying on support — built largely through social media — of Republicans, independents and some Democrats.

From Washington Post

The website Maryland Matters first reported Rutherford’s decision.

From Washington Post

Physicists grappled with the neutron’s identity over the following years before accepting it as an entirely new particle, rather than the amalgamation that Rutherford had suggested.

From Science News

Now that the virus is mostly gone, their immune systems may be “forgetting” the disease, Rutherford said.

From The Daily Beast

That attorney, Rutherford charges, asked him for $300,000 to “walk away and keep it under wraps.”

From The Daily Beast

When questioned, Rutherford has insisted the two roomed together has a harmless means of saving money.

From The Daily Beast

New Jersey also made sure East Rutherford is not getting full property-tax payments from the Giants/Jets owners for the land.

From The Daily Beast

Now that Mubarak is gone, Rutherford said, Americans are hoping for a successor government that will have popular support.

From The Daily Beast

The initial syllables of Ulysses and of Rutherford make an inclusion by sound.

From Project Gutenberg

Why could not he stop at Rutherford like his father and his father's father, and see to the farm?

From Project Gutenberg

My name is Gloria Rutherford and I can't do anything but play tennis, drink gin and drive a car.

From Project Gutenberg

He it was who, attracted by Rutherford's fame, had thus come in disguise to see him in the privacy of his own home.

From Project Gutenberg

Fremont of course is justly proud of the name and fame of Rutherford B. Hayes.

From Project Gutenberg