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• #Rutherford atom series#

Some particles went straight back or were deflected (went in another direction) as if they had hit something.

Most particles passed straight through the foil like the foil was not there. He used special equipment to shoot alpha particles (positively charged particles) at the gold foil. The final addition to the atomic miniature solar system, first proposed by Niels Bohr, came in 1932 when James Chadwick, Rutherfords colleague at Cambridge.

Protons carry an equal, but opposite, charge to electrons, but protons are much larger and heavier than electrons.Įrnest Rutherford conducted a famous experiment called the gold foil experiment. The positively charged particles in the nucleus of the atom were called protons. Rutherford's atom resembled a tiny solar system with the positively charged nucleus always at the center and the electrons revolving around the nucleus. The nucleus was so dense that the alpha particles would bounce off of it, but the electrons were so tiny, and spread out at such great distances, that the alpha particles would pass right through this area of the atom. He suggested that the atom consisted of a small, dense core of positively charged particles in the center (or nucleus) of the atom, surrounded by a swirling ring of electrons. In 1911, Rutherford proposed a revolutionary view of the atom. In 1911, Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus, using a scattering experiment, diagramed at right, that would become a classic technique of particle. Rutherford's experiments suggested that gold foil, and matter in general, had holes in it! These holes allowed most of the alpha particles to pass directly through, while a small number ricocheted off or bounced straight back because they hit a solid object. While it was unclear at the time what the alpha particle was, it was known to be very tiny. Rutherford fired tiny alpha particles at solid objects such as gold foil. He found that while most of the alpha particles passed right through the gold foil, a small number of alpha particles passed through at an angle (as if they had bumped up against something) and some bounced straight back like a tennis ball hitting a wall.

#Rutherford atom series#

Rutherford performed a series of experiments with radioactive alpha particles.