Was Rutherford model of an atom incorrect or Incomplete explain why?

Answer 1

Scientist considered Rutherford's Nuclear model of an atom to be incomplete due to the various reasons:

1) Rutherford told that the electron revolve (around the nucleus) in completely circular orbits. If so the charged electron would lose energy and fall into the nucleus.

2)Rutherford considered the nucleus to consist of only protons. If so according to the newly discovered laws of quantum mechanics the nucleus may split apart in process of gaining and loosing charges; simply put the cycle of attraction and repulsion would stress the atom and make it unstable.

3)Rutherford also did not mention anything about the neutrons which were discovered later.

Answer 2

Rutherford atomic model,

description of the structure of atoms proposed (1911) by the British physicist Ernest Rutherford. The model described the atom as a tiny, dense, positively charged core called a nucleus, in which nearly all the mass is concentrated, around which the light, negative constituents, called electrons, circulate at some distance, much like planets revolving around the Sun. The Rutherford atomic model has been alternatively called the nuclear atom, or the planetary model of the atom.

The nucleus was postulated as small and dense to account for the scattering of alpha particles from thin gold foil, as observed in a series of experiments performed under Rutherford's direction in 1910-11 . The diagram shows a simplified plan of his gold foil experiment. A radioactive source capable of emitting alpha particles (, positively charged particles more than 7,000 times as massive as electrons) was enclosed within a protective lead shield. The radiation was focused into a narrow beam after passing through a slit in a lead screen. A thin section of gold foil was placed in front of the slit, and a screen coated with zinc sulfide to render it fluorescent served as a counter to detect alpha particles. As each alpha particle struck the fluorescent screen, it would produce a burst of light called a scintillation, which was visible through a viewing microscope attached to the back of the screen. The screen itself was movable, allowing Rutherford and his associates to determine whether or not any alpha particles were being deflected by the gold foil.

Most alpha particles were observed to pass straight through the gold foil (see inset), which implied that atoms are composed of large amounts of open space. Some alpha particles were deflected slightly, suggesting interactions with other positively charged particles within the atom. Still other alpha particles were scattered at large angles, while a very few even bounced back toward the source. Only a positively charged and relatively heavy target particle, such as the proposed nucleus, could account for such strong repulsion. The negative electrons that balanced electrically the positive nuclear charge were regarded as traveling in circular orbits about the nucleus. The electrostatic force of attraction between electrons and nucleus was likened to the gravitational force of attraction between the revolving planets and the Sun. Most of this planetary atom was open space and offered no resistance to the passage of the alpha particles. The Rutherford model, based wholly on classical physics, was superseded in a few years by the Bohr atomic model, which incorporated some early quantum theory.because they thought it was missing particles of electrons and missing some fumes in which to combust

Answer 3

The atomic structure of atom was not exactly understood in the days of Rutherford, It only assumes a proton as a nucleus. It was 27 years after Einstein 's Relativity theory ,that the basic elemental structures of the atom was discovered. It was James Chadwick.that discovered the missing link ,now called the Neutron. The atom is now understood to be a volume of mass structure and the bullk of its volume is basically Space. Nevertheless what makes up space as a structured volume is stll a question.

However there still remains questions how an atom is held together and where is the indivisble particle that Democritus had assumed.

Answer 4

MANY reasons. Two that pop into my head right away are the fact that quantum mechanics hadn't been established at that time and that there was no explanation as to how the nucleus stayed together in the mix of all those +1 proton charges (strong nuclear force was not yet theorized).