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Gold Foil Experiment and Atomic Nucleus

Ernest Rutherford conducted experiments that led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. Through his alpha particle scattering experiment, he observed that a small percentage of alpha particles were deflected at very large angles. This led him to propose the Rutherford atomic model where the atom consists of a very small, dense positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons. This overturned the plum pudding model and established the nuclear structure of atoms.

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47 views7 pages

Gold Foil Experiment and Atomic Nucleus

Ernest Rutherford conducted experiments that led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. Through his alpha particle scattering experiment, he observed that a small percentage of alpha particles were deflected at very large angles. This led him to propose the Rutherford atomic model where the atom consists of a very small, dense positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons. This overturned the plum pudding model and established the nuclear structure of atoms.

Uploaded by

Akeehla Bondoc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Ernest

Rutherford
Atomic
Theory
G R O U P AT O M I C N U C L E A R
Who is Ernest
Rutherford?
• Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) was a New
Zealand-born physicist who made
significant contributions to the field of
atomic physics. He is renowned for his
groundbreaking experiments that led to the
discovery of the atomic nucleus.
Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 1908 for his work on the
transmutation of elements.
Rutherford’s
Atomic Theory

• In 1911, Rutherford described the atom


as having a tiny, dense, and positively
charged core called the nucleus.
Rutherford established that the mass of
the atom is concentrated in its nucleus.
The light, negatively charged, electrons
circulated around this nucleus, much like
planets revolving around the Sun.
Rutherford’s
Atomic Model
(Nuclear Atom)
• Rutherford Atomic Model – The plum
pudding model given by J. J. Thomson
failed to explain certain experimental
results associated with the atomic structure
of elements. Ernest Rutherford conducted
an experiment and based on the
observations of this experiment, he
explained the atomic structure of elements
and proposed Rutherford’s Atomic Model.
Rutherford’s
Atomic Model
• According to the Rutherford atomic model:

• 1. The positive charge and most of the mass of an


atom is concentrated in an extremely small volume.
He called this region of the atom as a nucleus.

• 2. Rutherford’s model proposed that the negatively


charged electrons surround the nucleus of an atom.
He also claimed that the electrons surrounding the
nucleus revolve around it with very high speed in
circular paths. He named these circular paths as
orbits.

• 3. Electrons being negatively charged and nucleus


being a densely concentrated mass of positively
charged particles are held together by a strong
electrostatic force of attraction.
Rutherford’s Alpha
Scattering
Experiment or Gold
Foil Experiment
• Rutherford conducted an experiment by
bombarding a thin sheet of gold with α-particles
and then studied the trajectory of these particles
after their interaction with the gold
foil.Rutherford, in his experiment, directed high
energy streams of α-particles from a radioactive
source at a thin sheet (100 nm thickness) of
gold. In order to study the deflection caused to
the α-particles, he placed a fluorescent zinc
sulphide screen around the thin gold foil.
Rutherford made certain observations.
Observations of
Rutherford’s Alpha
Scattering Experiment

• 1. A major fraction of the α-particles bombarded


towards the gold sheet passed through the sheet without
any deflection, and hence most of the space in an atom
is empty.

• 2. Some of the α-particles were deflected by the gold


sheet by very small angles, and hence the positive
charge in an atom is not uniformly distributed. The
positive charge in an atom is concentrated in a very
small volume.

• 3. Very few of the α-particles were deflected back, that


is only a few α-particles had nearly 180o angle of
deflection. So the volume occupied by the positively
charged particles in an atom is very small as compared
to the total volume of an atom.

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