Name: Electron Distribution of First 20 Elements
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 3 min 58 s
Description: On increasing the atomic number in the first 20 elements, the electronic structure builds up one electron. Let’s explore the electron distribution of the fir...

Question

What was the alpha particle scattering experiment carried out by Rutherford? What conclusions did he draw from this experiment regarding the structure of an atom?

Accepted Answer

Alpha particles scattering experiment is the one which is done by Rutherford to explain the structure of an atom. In this experiment, he bombarded a thin gold foil with high energy alpha particles. During this, he observed that,

Most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil without deflecting which shows that most of the space in the atom is empty.

Only a small fraction of alpha particles were deflected and very few particles was deflected by $180 °$ and went back on the same path when it collided with the gold foil.

From these observations, he concluded that,

Most space inside an atom is empty.

An atom consist of a positively charged centre called as nucleus.

All the positive charges and mass of the atom were concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.

What was the alpha particle scattering experiment carried out by Rutherford? What conclusions did he draw from this experiment regarding the structure of an atom?

Important Questions on Atomic Structure

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