Discovery Of The Proton Flashcards
After Rutherford’s bombardment of gold foil with alpha particles, what did him and his team do?
They bombarded various types of substances with alpha particles
What did Rutherford and his team find when they bombarded light atoms such as oxygen and nitrogen with alpha particles?
They found that small positively charged particles were given off as a result of the bombardment
Give two light atoms which Rutherford and his team bombarded with particles.
Oxygen
Nitrogen
What happened when Rutherford and his team bombarded heavy atoms such as gold with alpha particles?
No small positively charged particles were given off
Name a heavy atom which Rutherford and his team bombarded with alpha particles.
Gold
How did Rutherford and his team explain why no positively charged particles were given off by the bombardment of gold with alpha particles?
(2)
By saying that the alpha particles were breaking up the nuclei of the lighter atoms to release these positively charged particles
This didn’t occur in heavy atoms such as gold because the large positive nuclear charge repelled the alpha particles before they had a chance to break up the nucleus
What did Rutherford and his team say to explain the source of the positively charged particles
By saying that the alpha particles were breaking up the nuclei of the lighter atoms to release these positively charged particles
Why weren’t protons given off from the bombardment of gold with alpha particles?
Because the large positive nuclear charge repelled the alpha particles before they had a chance to break up the nucleus
What were the alpha particles doing to the nuclei of light atoms?
They were breaking up the nuclei
What did Rutherford call the positively charged particles given off by the nucleus?
Protons
Summarise Rutherford’s work.
3
He discovered that the atom consists of a small dense positive core called the nucleus
He discovered that positive particles called protons were located in the nucleus
The new structure of the atom he proposed was that it consisted of a nucleus and that the electrons were in some sort of ‘electron cloud’ surrounding the nucleus
What did Rutherford discover in relation to the atom?
He discovered that the atom consists of a small dense positive core called the nucleus
What did Rutherford discover in relation to the nucleus
He discovered that positive particles called protons were located in the nucleus
What was the structure of the atom proposed by Rutherford?
The new structure of the atom he proposed was that it consisted of a nucleus and that the electrons were in some sort of ‘electron cloud’ surrounding the nucleus
