Question

Five friends looked at a piece of aluminum foil. They wondered what they would see if they could see inside an atom of aluminum. This is what they said: Jeb: I think it would look like a tiny, dense ball with tiny particles tightly packed inside it. Jane: I think there would be a tiny, dense center surrounded by a lot of empty space where some particles are whizzing around. Hal: I think there would be a large center made up mostly of empty space wit particles whizzing around in it. It would be surrounded by a dense shell. Pick the friend that you agree with and explain why you agree. Be sure to include the friends' name and factual information to back up your explanation. Attachments

Answer 1

The answer is; Jane would be right.

The atom was discovered be more of empty space. The mass of an atom is mainly attributed to the mass of the nucleus which occupies a very small fraction of the size of the atom. The nucleus is Located in the center surrounded by orbiting electrons.  

The Geiger–Marsden experiment, where alpha particles are accelerated onto a thin aluminum foil proved this theory by Ernest Rutherford. Some of the particles were deflected by the foil and this was attributed to the dense nucleus of the aluminum atoms in the foil. The other particles passed through because most of the atoms are made of empty space.