Question

3. Enlist the conclusions drawn by Rutherford from his a-ray scattering
experiment.​

Answer 1

Rutherford concluded from the α-particle scattering experiment that:–

(i) Most of the space inside the atom was empty because most of the α-particles passed through the gold foil without any deflection.

(ii) Very few particles were deflected from their path, indicating that the positive charge occupied very little space inside the atom.

(iii) A very small fraction of α-particles were deflected by 180⁰, indicating that the positive charge and the mass of the gold atom is concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.

From the data, he also calculated that the radius of the nucleus was about 105 times smaller than the radius of the atom.