Chemical Experiments

Question 1

What was the rutherford’s gold foil experiment? How was it done? What conclusions did rutherford draw?

Answer 1

The rutherford’s gold foil experiment had radium (ra) put into an completely enclosed space with a tiny hole. As radium decays quickly, it releases alpha particles through the tiny hole onto a gold foil surrounded by detectors that would flash when hit by an alpha particle. Most of the the alpha particles actually went through the gold foil. Others bounced back or deflected. Then, he came up with the following solutions:
1. Atoms are mostly empty space.
2. Atoms have a dense centre (nucleus).
3. Opposite charges attract, same charges repel
4. The centre is positively charged

Question 2

​What was the cathode ray tube experiment? What were some of it’s discoveries?

Answer 2

In the chamber, there is no water, air or other elements. The pressure is extremely low (0.01pa). There is a cathode (a negatively charged electrode) and an anode (a positively charged electrode). When the cathode is heated and there is a high voltage between the cathode and anode, an electron beam accelerates from the cathode to the anode. The chamber is coated with zinc sulphide, when electrons hit it, it turns green. He figured out
1. Cathodes produce electrons
2. All atoms contain electrons
3. The mass to charge ratio of an electron

Question 3

What is a cathode?

Answer 3

A negatively charged electrode.

Question 4

What is an anode?

Answer 4

A positively charged electrode.