Question

Enlist the conclusions drawn by Rutherford from his α-ray scattering experiment.

Answer 1

Rutherford Experiment

• Rutherford’s conducted an experiment with the gold foil by bombarding a thin sheet of gold with α-particles and then studied the trajectory of these particles after their interaction.

Experiment:

• Rutherford fired a thin beam of α particles (pronounced alpha particles) at a very thin sheet of pure gold.
• Alpha particles are helium nuclei and they are given off in various radioactive decay processes.
• In this case, Rutherford placed a sample of radium (a radioactive metal) inside a lead box with a small pinhole in it.
• Most of the radiation was absorbed by the lead, but a thin beam of alpha particles escaped out of the pinhole in the direction of the gold foil.
• The gold foil was surrounded by a detector screen that would flash when hit with an alpha particle.

Diagram of Rutherford Alpha Scattering Experiment

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Conclusions are drawn by Rutherford from his α-ray scattering experiment:

• α-particles passed through the gold foil without any deflection concluding the empty space inside the atom.
• Deflection is observed in a few particles which proves the positive charge of the atom occupies very little space.
• Deflection in a very small fraction of α-particles indicates that all the positive charge and mass of the gold atom were concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.