Ernest Rutherford

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Ernest Rutherford

• 1871-1937 (Nelson, New Zealand)

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Interesting Facts of his Life

• Had very little money to fund experiments because
  he was a farmer
• He entered college at the age of 16.
• Students conducted many of his experiments for
  him.

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Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment (1906)

• Consisted of shooting alpha particles at a very
  thin piece of gold.
• 98 of the particles went straight through,
• 2 went through but were deflected at large
  angles,
• .01 were deflected straight back

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Contributions to Modern Atomic Theory

• Discovered that atoms are mostly empty space.
• Established that atoms have a tiny dense center
  called the nucleus.
• The nucleus contains most of the mass of an atom.
• Electrons are found outside of the nucleus.
• The nucleus is positively charged.

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Rutherfords Atomic Model
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Rutherford Atomic Theory Highlights

• Gold Foil Experiment
• Atomic discoveries - Atoms are mostly empty space
  and have a nucleus.
• Discoveries occurred around 1907.