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Rutherford performed a famous experiment where he fired alpha particles at very thin gold foil.

The experiment was set up with detectors both in front and behind the gold foil. Alpha particles are relatively heavy but small particles, like a helium atom without electrons.

Rutherford proved in this experiment that the atom consisted mainly of space (most of the alpha particles went through the gold foil) but with extremely dense nuclei (some of the alpha particles were deflected or even bounced back they way they had come).

This was a leap forward in knowledge about the structure of the atom at the time. The atom wasn't a uniform structure with particles evenly distributed in it. Rutherford proved and believed that the atom had a heavy, dense nucleus with electrons relatively far away.

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