a unit for measuring radioactive decay, equal to the mass (of a given substance) required to give off one million disintegrations per second; one million becquerels: symbol, rd
Rutherford,
Ernest Baron Rutherford of Nelson 1871-1937; Brit. physicist, born in New Zealand
Rutherford,
Joseph Franklin 1869-1942; U.S. leader of Jehovah's Witnesses
See rutherford in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun Abbr. rd
A unit expressing the rate of decay of radioactive material, equal to one million disintegrations per second.
Origin:
Origin: After Ernest Rutherford
.
British chemist and physician who is credited with the discovery of nitrogen.
, Ernest. First Baron Rutherford of Nelson. 1871-1937.
New Zealand-born British physicist who classified radiation into alpha, beta, and gamma types and discovered the atomic nucleus. He won the 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry.