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Rutherford was expecting slight to moderate deflections because the idea was that the positive charge in an atom was distributed throughout the atom. But when he found large deflections he had to conclude, correctly, that the positive charge had to be concentrated into a tiny volume, in order to provide the huge electric fields needed to cause this. We now call this point the nucleus and it is indeed the cause of the observation.

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What happened to the alpha particles as they hit the gold foil?

They stop.


What was ernest rutherfords's experiment?

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


Which observations helped Rutherford determine that atoms have tiny dense positively charged nuclei?

A+ answer: A few of the alpha particles in his expeirment were deflected from the gold foil at large angles. Scattering pattern of alpha particles 'shot' at a thin gold foil. Most went straight thru showing the nucleus was very small. Analysis of the scattering showed electrical repulsion, not that the particles actually hit the nucleus and bounced off.


What was rutherfords experiment?

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


Why is Rutherford's experiment called the gold foil experiment?

In the experiment, Rutherford found the nucleus using gold foil.because he used a thin sheet of gold foil.Because he used a gold foil (the only metal that can be hammered into a 1 atom thick foil without tearing) in an attempt to scatter alpha particles.The unexpected result that instead of all of the alpha particles scattering through small forward angles, a few bounced almost directly back to the source. This made the Thompson "plum pudding" model of the atom unworkable and suggested that each atom had a tiny "infinitely hard" kernel somewhere inside it. Rutherford named this kernel the nucleus.


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.


What will happen if you use beta particles on gold foil?

If the alpha particles hit the gold foil most of the alpha particles will pass through the gold foil because atoms mostly consists of empty space and some alpha particles will be deflected including a very small number of alpha particles will bounce back in the direction they came from because the atom has a very small positively charged mass called the nucleus.


Does each substance has particles?

tiny particles


Why rutherfords experiment called the gold foil experiment?

In the experiment, Rutherford found the nucleus using gold foil.because he used a thin sheet of gold foil.Because he used a gold foil (the only metal that can be hammered into a 1 atom thick foil without tearing) in an attempt to scatter alpha particles.The unexpected result that instead of all of the alpha particles scattering through small forward angles, a few bounced almost directly back to the source. This made the Thompson "plum pudding" model of the atom unworkable and suggested that each atom had a tiny "infinitely hard" kernel somewhere inside it. Rutherford named this kernel the nucleus.


Why is Rutherford' experiment called the gold foil experiment?

In the experiment, Rutherford found the nucleus using gold foil.because he used a thin sheet of gold foil.Because he used a gold foil (the only metal that can be hammered into a 1 atom thick foil without tearing) in an attempt to scatter alpha particles.The unexpected result that instead of all of the alpha particles scattering through small forward angles, a few bounced almost directly back to the source. This made the Thompson "plum pudding" model of the atom unworkable and suggested that each atom had a tiny "infinitely hard" kernel somewhere inside it. Rutherford named this kernel the nucleus.


What is the experimental evidence that most of an atomis empty space?

Ernest Rutherford determined that with his famous gold foil experiment. Here's what he did: he rigged an alpha particle emitter to shoot alpha particles (made up of 2 protons and 2 neutrons) through a thin piece of gold foil to hit a background where the particles would register their position when they hit. Most of the alpha particles passed clean through the gold foil without touching anything. But a certain small percentage bounced back, and a certain small percentage were deflected. Here's what he determined: 1. atoms are mostly empty space, because most passed clean through. 2. atoms have a nucleus which is tiny, but dense compared with the electron cloud. 3. that nucleus is positively charged, because it deflected the positively charged alpha particles. This experiment radically changed our view of the structure of an atom, and is one of the most famous experiments ever conducted in science.


Are particles large?

Not at all! Particles are tiny little things