Question

What did Ernest Rutherford s gold foil experiment demonstrate about atoms?

Answer 1

Rutherford performed gold foil experiment to understand that how negative and positive particles could Co exist in an atom. He bombarded alpha particles on a 0.00004 cm thick gold foil.

He proposed a planetary model of the atom and concluded following results and demonstrated that,
1. An atom produces a line spectrum.
2. An Electron revolves around the nucleus without any orbits.
3. Since most of the particles passed through the foil undeflected it means that most of the volume occupied by an atom is empty.
4. An Atom as a whole is neutral.
5. The deflection of few particles on the foil suggested that there is center of positive particles in an atom called the nucleus of the atom.
6. The complete rebounce of few particles on the gold foil suggested that the nucleus is very dense and hard.