C2__Structure-Bonding, P2__Particles
Experiment
- First the scientists took a piece of very thin gold foil (only a few atoms thick)
- They then fired alpha particles at it (which have a positive charge)
- Most passed through with no change of direction
- Sometimes they were defected and changed direction other times they were reflected
Results
- The fact that most passed through shows that atoms were mostly empty
- The deflection shows that the centre of the atom has a positive charge (as like charges - positive alpha and positive nucleus - repel)
- Because some straight back shows that centre of atom contains most of the mass in an atom