Rutherfordium is a highly unstable, radioactive, and synthetic element with the symbol Rf and atomic number 104. It is a member of the transactinide elements, which are characterized by their high atomic numbers and consequent instability due to their large number of protons. Despite its instability, scientists have been able to synthesize small amounts of Rutherfordium in labs around the world using nuclear reactions. Its most stable isotope has a half-life of around 1.3 hours, making it one of the shorter-lived transactinide elements. Rutherfordium is named after the physicist Ernest Rutherford, who made key contributions to our understanding of atomic structure and nuclear physics. Its properties and behavior are still being studied by scientists as part of ongoing research into nuclear physics and chemistry.