Question

Why Rutherford has used gold foil for his experiment of alpha rays scattering experiment

Answer 1

Dear Student
Gold was used by Rutherford in the alpha particle experiment as it is highly malleable. As the alpha particles are heavy, therefore their penetrating power is less. Hence to observe the results of the experiment a very thin sheet of metal was required and gold was chosen because it can be hammered into very thin sheets, and would therefore give the best results.
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