Rf Rutherfordium 104 (265) 4 7 d 104 [Rn] 5f14 6d2 7s2 2 8 18 32 32 10 2 None Unknown {"1":"580"} 1 13.1 h 18.9h AlphaEmission TransitionMetal, Metal, Radioactive, Synthetic ruth-er-FORD-i-em Synthetic radioactive metal. It has no significant commercial applications. Made by bombarding californium-249 with beams of carbon-12 and 13, which produced an isotope with half lives of 4+ and 3 sec. dOj9ZjKnJcY Rutherfordium

Francium was discovered in 1939 by Marguerite Perey of the Curie Institute in Paris, France.

It was discovered when she was researching the radioactive decay of actinium-227.

Marguerite Perey discovered that francium-223 is made naturally when actinium-227 emits an alpha-particle. Francium was named after France 104 1964 Workers at the Nuclear Institute at Dubna, and the University of California, Berkeley, USA. USSR, United States The origin of the Amercian Chemical Society preferred name is Lord "Rutherford", the physicist and chemist from New Zealand.

Francium is highly radioactive

Francium was the last element discovered in nature, rather than by synthesis

Due to its instability and rarity, there are no commercial applications for francium.

It has been used for research purposes in the fields of biology and of atomic structure.

Its use as a potential diagnostic aid for various cancers has also been explored, but this application has been deemed impractical.