Rutherford Scattering Insight
Rutherford scattering showed nucleus is?
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About This Question
- Subject
- physics
- Chapter
- atoms and nuclei
- Topic
- rutherford scattering insight
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
Small, dense, positively charged
- Experiment: Alpha particles were fired at a thin gold foil.
- Observations: Most passed through, but a few were deflected at very large angles (some even backwards).
- Inference: To deflect a positive alpha particle backwards, there must be a concentrated positive charge and substantial mass in a very tiny volume.
- Conclusion: This led to the discovery of the nucleus, which contains nearly all of the atom's mass and its entire positive charge, while being thousands of times smaller than the atom itself.
This medium difficulty physics question is from the chapter atoms and nuclei, covering the topic of rutherford scattering insight. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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