Question

How does Rutherford’s model of the atom compare with Thomson’s model?

Answer 1

they both describe atoms as being made up of positive and negative matter

Answer 2

Answer:

Both Thomson and Rutherford's model corroborated the presence of negative charged electrons. However, Rutherford's model suggested that the electrons are not static but they revolve around the nucleus in fixed orbits.

Explanation:

J. J. Thomson's model of an atom also called as the 'plum-pudding' model preceded that of Rutherford's model. As per the former, every atom is composed of a negatively charged electrons dispersed in a cloud of positive charge. The electrons were compared to the 'plums' spread in the positive environment of the 'pudding'.

Rutherford conducted his famous gold foil experiment, in which he bombarded positively charged alpha particles against a thin sheet of gold foil and observed their trajectory of scattering. He noticed that most of the particles passed through however, some of them bounced back. Based on the model, it was concluded that

1) Most of the space inside an atom is empty

2) The mass of an atom is primarily concentrated in the nucleus core which is positively charged.

3) Negatively charged electrons revolve around the nucleus in fixed circular paths called orbits.