Alpha Particle Scattering
In Rutherford's α-particle scattering experiment, most alpha particles pass through the gold foil undeflected because:
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About This Question
- Subject
- physics
- Chapter
- atoms and nuclei
- Topic
- alpha particle scattering
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
Most of the atom is empty space
- Observations: Rutherford noted that ≈99.9% of particles traveled straight through without changing direction.
- Inference: If there were matter everywhere, the dense α-particles would hit something.
- Conclusion: This proved that most of the atom is empty space.
- The Nucleus: The rare deflections at large angles showed that positive charge and mass are concentrated in a tiny central core (the nucleus).
This easy difficulty physics question is from the chapter atoms and nuclei, covering the topic of alpha particle scattering. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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