noun
rutherford
RUH-thuhr-fuhrd
noun
1
An old unit of radioactivity, symbol rd, equal to one million radioactive decays per second.
"Early nuclear physics papers sometimes measured activity in rutherfords rather than becquerels."
How to Use Rutherford
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn outdated scientific unit for measuring how radioactive something is.
When to use it
Obsolete — modern science uses the becquerel instead.
Word Forms
rutherfords plural
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Early nuclear physics papers sometimes measured activity in _____ rather than becquerels.
Etymology
Named after the physicist Ernest Rutherford, a pioneer of nuclear physics.