Question

Explain the reasons why Rutherford preferred to use a gold foil for his experiment instead of other metals.

Answer 1

• Rutherford was in need of a very thin layer of atoms for his experiment so that he can observe what is exactly there inside an atom.
• Gold is the most malleable metal i.e, it can be made into thin sheets.
• Gold atoms can slide over one another easily and this makes them malleable.
• Thus he selected gold and took a thin gold foil containing approximately 1000 atoms for his alpha ray scattering experiment.
• His alpha ray scattering experiment led to the discovery of the nucleus.