Rutherford's Experiment Flashcards
1
Q
What did Rutherford “fire” in his experiment?
A
Positively charged radiation (alpha particles)
2
Q
What did Rutherford target with his radioactive particles?
A
Gold foil
3
Q
What did Rutherford observe during his experiment?
A
Most radioactive particles passed straight through the gold foil. A few were deflected at odd angles.
4
Q
What did Rutherford infer based on his observation that most particles passed through the gold foil?
A
The atoms of gold must be mostly empty space.
5
Q
What did Rutherford infer about the nucleus based on his observation that the positively charged radiation bounced off the nucleus?
A
The nucleus must also have a positive charge.
