Question

After completing the gold foil experiment, Rutherford concluded that the size of the nucleus is very small compared to the size of the atom. This is because :

• A. One out of every $8000$ alpha particles deflected back after hitting the gold foil
• B. Most of the alpha particles deflected back after hitting the gold foil
• C. Some alpha particles were deflected by the small angles
• D. Very few of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil

Answer 1

The correct option is A One out of every $8000$ alpha particles deflected back after hitting the gold foil

Rutherford concluded that a very small fraction of $\alpha -$ particles were deflected by ${180}^{\circ }$, indicating that all the positive charge and mass of the gold atom were concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.

Hence, option $\left(\text{A}\right)$ is correct.