I.

The Gold Foil Experiment

Intro: Before I start, JJ Thompson's plum model of

an atom was one of the most widely accepted
models all over the world for understanding the
structure of an atom. However, throughout the
years many scientists performed several
experiments on the atomic structure of an atom
and it showed different results. This contradict
many scientists all over the world to reconsider
the complete structure of an atom in order to
study it again. That's why in the year 1911, Ernest
Rutherford carried out the famous Gold foil
experiment. He did this in order to understand
what really is the structure of an atom. So, what is
this experiment all about? Let's find it out!

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Body:
Ÿ So, with the help of Hans Geiger and Ernest
Mersden which is both the student and assistant
of Ernest Rutherford, they carried
 out the experiment.
Ÿ This is how the setup of his experiment looked
like:

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1. As we can see in the picture, Ernest Rutherford

used some source of small particles called the
alpha particles which is locked in a container with
a very small opening so that the alpha particles
only came out through this and so that it could
travel in a straight line.
Ÿ Alpha particles is a positively charged particle
spontaneously emitted by
some radioactive substances, consisting of
two protons and two neutrons bound together.
These particles was discovered by Rutherford
himself in 1899.
Ÿ Why did Ernest Rutherford used alpha particles?
He used this because it contained a high level of
energy and it were heavier as well.

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Ÿ So, if an atom is like a pudding of positively
charged particles with tiny electrons in it then this
alpha particles will just pass straight through it.
This is obvious because the heavier particles will
pass and pierce through the lighter structure.
That's why he chose to use the alpha particles.

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2. Next, he used a very thin gold foil on which the

alpha particles would fire at.
Ÿ Why did Ernest Rutherford used a very thin gold
foil? According to my research, he used it
because it was estimated that the gold foil contain
at approximately one thousand atoms. So, the
lesser the atoms the more convenient the
experiment would be.

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3. Lastly, he used a fluorescent screen that would

help detect the radiation. It means that
 the screen will glow or emit fluorescent light
whenever the alpha particles will hit it. So, this is
how the track of alpha particles can be traced.

Now, we will know how the experiment work.

Ÿ First, the alpha particles were emitted from the
element present in that box.
Ÿ Next, it will directly hit the gold foil.
So I'll ask all of you, what will be the result after
the alpha particles will hit the thin gold foil?
Ÿ I know some of you will say that it will bounce
back, it will be reflected, it will pierce through it,
etc.
Now, even Ernest Rutherford himself was
impressed of the results.

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Ÿ So, he found out that most of the fast moving

alpha particles passed straight through the foil
and hit the detector.
Ÿ However, some particles got deflected by small
angles.
Ÿ Few alpha particles also rebounded.
 How is this possible?

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These results and observations made Rutherford

think that the plum pudding model is not really
correct. Based on the conclusions he had, he then
put forward a new hypothesis regarding the
structure of atoms! That's why he put forth a new
atomic model.

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II. Rutherford's Atomic Model

1. We have an example here to understand this

inferences.
Ÿ First, let us imagine that we have a ball made of
cotton. The cotton in the ball is very sparsely
distributed and has an extremely tiny sphere
located at the center.
Ÿ This sphere is quite hard and dense. So hard that
it can even resist a bullet shot at it.
Ÿ Now, what will happen if we shoot many
 bullets across this cotton ball?

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1. Most of them will travel straight through the cotton

surface.
2. If the bullet hits the edge of the central heavy
mass then it will slightly change their path and get
diverged.
3. If the bullet hits the center directly then it will
bounce back because the dense mass is too hard
for the bullet to pass through.
4. So, very few bullets will bounce back.

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This is evident to what Ernest Rutherford had

inferred about the atomic structure.
1. His first conclusion was that most of the space
inside an atom is empty. This is because most of
the alpha particles could easily pass through the
atoms and hit the detector straight.
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1. His second conclusion was that the positive

charge is compactly packed in a tiny entity. This
occupies a extremely small space inside the atom.
Ÿ The explanation holds true to this because few
alpha particles gets deviated. That means that
there's a possibility that these hit the edge of the
positive center. They get deviated because the
positive center repels the alpha particles.

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Ÿ Also, a smallest amount of the alpha particles

rebounded. That means that there's a possibility
that it directly hit the positive center. This explains
that the volume occupied by the positive center is
also small. If the space occupied would have been
big enough then the number of alpha particles
rebounding would also be greater.
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Let's say there are gold particles in the foil, he

found that most of the rays passed straight
through the atoms, a few rays changed their paths
and get deflected. Lastly, very few particles
bounce back.

So, these results compels Ernest Rutherfod to

come up with a new nuclear model.

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Also based on the results, he made a hypothesis

concerning this.

However, there are a lot of setbacks concerning

his hypothesis but thankfully it was corrected
when he was joined by another physicist named
Neils Bohr which will be discussed by the next
reporter.