Question

What experiment established the presence of atomic nucleus ? What features of the nucleus were deduced from this experiment ?

Answer 1

An experiment performed by Rutherford and his co-workers known as the scattering experiment established the presence of a nucleus. Following observation of scattering experiment showed highly dense particle in the centre of the atom, which is later on called nucleus :

1. Most of the alpha particles passed straight through gold foil without deflection.
2. Some of the alpha particles were deflected from their path through small angles.
3. Very few alpha particles bounced back with almost $180°$

Following are, the features of the nucleus deduced from the experiment :

1. The nucleus is the positively charged centre of the atom.
2. The nucleus is a highly dense particle of the atom.
3. The nucleus consists of almost all the mass of the atom situated in the centre,
4. The nucleus contains neutron and proton.