4.5 The Nucleus Flashcards
In Rutherford’s expt., how were the alpha particles detected
by flashes of light (oscillations) they produce on hitting the screen
What kind of a screen did the alpha particles in rutherford’ expt hit
a glass screen coated with zinc sulphide
Why was Rutherford’s expt carried out in a vacuum
to prevent alpha particles being deflected by collisions with gas atoms
What happened to about 1/8000 alpha particles in Rutherford’s expt
they were backscattered through a very large angle
Why were most of the alpha particles in Rutherford’s expt. undeflected
they didn’t come close enough to any repulsive positive charge. All positive charge and most mass of an atom form a v small dense nucleus. Most of an atom is empty space
What explains the rarity of the backscattering of alpha particles in Rutherford’s expt.
the small size of the nucleus
Why is a nucleus much denser than normal matter
In ordinary matter, there’s lots of empty space between the nucleus and orbiting electrons.
There is no empty space between the particles inside the nucleus.
Hence it is much denser.
