RUTHERFORD'S MODEL OF AN ATOM

INTRODUCTION:

Ernest Rutherford was interested in knowing how the electrons are arranged with in an atom.atom. Rutherford designed an experiment for this. In this experiment, fast moving alpha(α)-particles were made to fall on a thin gold foil.The model described the atom as a tiny, dense, positively charged core called a nucleus, in which nearly all the mass is concentrated, around which the light, negative constituents, called electrons, circulate at some distance, much like planets revolving around the Sun.

Rutherford's image

GOLD FOIL:

The atom consists of a small, massive, positively charged nucleus with the negatively charged electrons being at a great distance from the centre.

Rutherford's image

ALPHA PARTICLES EXPERIMENT:

Solution:

  1. Position the piece of gold foil between the alpha source and the screen.
  2. Point the alpha particles being created by the alpha source at the piece of gold foil.
  3. Use the microscope to observe different parts of the screen and look for scintillations (little flashes of light).