Why does the alpha particle not make physical contact with nucleus, when an alpha particle in
headed directly toward the nucleus of an atom.
Answers
Explanation:
Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t; it all depends on their energy.
Alpha particles (He4 nuclei) can be accelerated by a particle accelerator and directed toward any element that can be fabricated into a “target” (for example a small amount of metal or salt deposited on a thin, self-supporting, film of carbon). If the alpha particle energy is high enough, then it can either pick up a neutron of proton from, or deposit one of its neutrons or protons in an atom of the target. It can also just bounce off. If it bounces off without losing any energy, the process is called “elastic scattering”; if some energy is lost then the process is called “inelastic scattering”. In all, these interactions are called “nuclear reactions” and there are many different kinds of nuclear reactions that can occur and, what sort of reaction actually occurs is strongly determined by the alpha particle’s energy.