Ernest+Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford [] [] Describe the set-up for Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment. Include a visual. What was he doing in the experiment?

1. The gold foil experiment was basically when alpha particles He 2+ ions were fired into a thin sheet of gold foil surrounded by a sheet of zinc which was used as a detector. Once the alpha connected to this combination of the gold foil and the zinc, the zinc would light up.

Explain the outcome of the Gold Foil Experiment. Rutherford saw that there were little holes in his gold foil/zinc experiment, which allowed particles to go through. As you see in the pho to above, this made it look as if it was the sun in the center of the ring and the beams of light shot out made it look like a smaller solar system.

Summarize his model of the atom. The name of Rutherford's atom model was named the nuclear model. Rutherford's theory was that the model was that 99.99% of the atom was empty space. The nucleus is a small but most dense positive core, witch contained protons. The nucleus is what had weighed most of the atom.   

Rutherford’s model changed our view of the atom. Compare and contrast his model to Thomson’s model. What new knowledge did we gain? What was wrong with Thomson’s model? Did any of Thomson’s ideas continue to be valid?

Fired tiny alpha particles at solid objects such as gold foil.