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You see...the gold foil experiment was basically when alpha particles He 2+ ions were fired into a thin sheet of gold foil..It was done by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden( students of Rutherford)..Now basically the model of atom then was that what is called the"plum model" or "apple pie model"..or whatever you wish to call it..the basic idea of course was that positive charge was spread around the atom with electrons embedded in them.Now,of course the spread out positive charge,could not deflect the doubly charged alpha particles by much..why?because the positive charges are all spread apart and the field they set up would gradually weaken with distance and hence the total field strength at a given point would not be large enough to deflect the particle.So,they obviously expected small deflections ,but ahat they found amazed them..some of the particles actually was reflected by more than 90 degrees and most of them passed through.."It was like firing a 15-inch long shell in a piece of tissue paper and it came back to hit you"..so now what could this mean?Rutherford concluded that since the particles reflected back,there must be a strong positive"nucleus"..and since most of the particles passed right through,most of the space in an atom must be empty..I think that's about it!!

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Related Questions

What was ernest rutherfords's experiment?

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


What did ernest rutherfords gold foil experiment demonstrate about atoms?

The conclusion was that an atom has a nucleus (center) with a positive charge.


Was Rutherfords theory tested and published?

yes it was tested by the gold foil experiment


What did Ernest Rutherfords gold foil experiment demonstrate about an atom?

Ernest Rutherford's gold foil experiment demonstrated that atoms have a small, dense nucleus at their center that contains positively charged protons. This nucleus is surrounded by mostly empty space where negatively charged electrons are found orbiting. This experiment led to the development of the nuclear model of the atom.


What did Rutherfords gold foil experiment help him conclude?

That the mass of an atom is mostly located in a small nucleus.


Who discovered the nuclear atom?

The nuclear atom was discovered by Ernest Rutherford. He did it with a gold foil experiment.


What is the name of the scientists who first proposed that atoms have a nucleus?

Ernest Rutherford, following the "gold foil" experiment.


What experiment convinced Ernest Rutherford that the atom has a small positivity charged nucleus?

th gold foil experiment


Who did a gold foil experiment?

Hans Geiger, Ernest Marsden (under Ernest Rutherford).


Who conducted the gold foil experiment to discover the nucleaus?

Ernest Rutherford was responsible for the Gold Foil experiment. A great portion of Ernest Rutherford's research included the study of alpha particles.


How did Ernest Rutherford discover nucleus?

Gold foil experiment.


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

positive