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The initial discovery of "Rutherford Scattering" was made by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden in 1909 when they performed the gold foil experiment under the direction of Rutherford, in which they fired a beam of alpha particles (helium nuclei) at layers of gold leaf only a few atoms thick. The intriguing results showed that around 1 in 8000 alpha particles were deflected by very large angles (over 90°), while the rest passed straight through with little or no deflection. From this, Rutherford concluded that the majority of the mass was concentrated in a minute, positively charged region (the nucleus) surrounded by electrons. When a (positive) alpha particle approached sufficiently close to the nucleus, it was repelled strongly enough to rebound at high angles. The small size of the nucleus explained the small number of alpha particles that were repelled in this way.

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Q: What is Rutherford's experiment with gold foil and alpha particles?
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Related questions

What was ernest rutherfords's experiment?

he shot tiny alpha particles throug a piece of gold foil.


What was rutherfords experiment?

he shot tiny alpha particles throug a piece of gold foil. -Apex


In Rutherfords gold foil experiment particles in dense atomic nuclei caused some alpha particles to bounce straight back from the gold foil.?

positive


What caused the deflection of the alpha particles in Rutherfords gold foil experiment?

A zinc sulfide coated screen surrounding the gold foil produced a flash of light whenever it was struck by an alpha particle. By noting where the flash occurred, the scientists could determine if the atoms in the gold foil deflected the alpha particles.


What feature of rutherfords gold foil experiment was most surprising to those who carried out the experiment?

Some alpha particles deflected, some went straight through and come were deflected.


In Rutherfords gold foil experiment shown in Figure 4-1 alpha particles that bounce straight back from the foil have struck in the gold atoms?

No, they struck the nucleus of the atom. Since the alpha particles are positively charged and nucleus is positively charged as well, they repelled each other and alpha particles are repelled back


When Rutherford performed his metal foil experiment did the alpha particles pass straight through the foil or bounce back?

The alpha particles beam is scattered.


What materials are needed for rutherfords gold foil experiment?

gold foil.


Are the atoms in the gold foil experiment a positive or negative charge?

Positively charged atoms, In Rutherford's experiment he bombarded an extremely thin piece of gold foil with alpha particles. Alpha particles are tiny, high energy, positively charged particles.


How did Rutherford's alpha scattering experiment show that Thomson's plum pudding model of the atom incorrect?

Rutherfords experiment proved the existence of a nucleus as some alpha particles "bounced back" from the gold foil sample . Thomson model did not involve a nucleus and predicted just a slight deflection or none at all.


Where did most of the alpha particles fired at the foil go in the gold foil experiment?

Most of them went right through.


What conclusion about the atom came from Ernest Rutherfords famous gold foil experiment?

The conclusions were that the nucleus in an atom must:- (1) Be positive as it repelled the positive alpha-particles (2) Have a high mass, as the deflections were massive (3) Be very small as only a few of the particles were deflected