Which set of statements is true about Rutherford’s gold foil experiment?
i. This is the main experiment that showed that atoms have a dense nucleus.
ii. The data from the experiment showed that alpha particles scattered equally at all angles from the gold foil.
iii. Electrons were emitted from the gold atoms in straight lines.

a. i only
b. ii only
c. iii only
d. i and ii
e. i and iii

Question

Which set of statements is true about Rutherford’s gold foil experiment?

i. This is the main experiment that showed that atoms have a dense nucleus.

ii. The data from the experiment showed that alpha particles scattered equally at all angles from the gold foil.

iii. Electrons were emitted from the gold atoms in straight lines.

a. i only

b. ii only

c. iii only

d. i and ii

e. i and iii

Accepted Answer

welcome back everyone. Which of the following is a conclusion made about the structure of an atom based on Rutherford's gold foil experiment. So if we imagine our piece of gold foil from Rutherford's experiment, we recall that Rutherford aimed an alpha particle source where he shot alpha particles towards this gold foil, where a majority of these alpha particles ended up passing through our atoms of gold. Where some of these alpha particles actually ended up being deflected in the opposite direction of the gold foil. So even though a majority of these alpha particles went through, a few were still deflected. Which signaled to Rutherford that are positively charged alpha particles passed through our atoms of gold so easily because our atoms of gold consisted of positively charged nuclei, which we recall are surrounded by are negatively charged electrons on the outside of the nucleus. And so that's why some of these alpha particles were deflected by a few amount. So looking at our statements, we see that choice A. States that the atom is composed of a small but dense. So we can agree with small and dense negatively charged region known as the nucleus. We will disagree with this statement because it should say that the nucleus is positively charged, meaning that we would rule out choice A But reading choice be, it does say that we have a small but dense, positively charged region. So Choice B looks like a good prospect for an answer choice. Looking at choice. See it says that the atom is composed of a small but dense neutral region known as the nucleus. We would disagree with the statement. So we would also rule out statements. See because we would disagree with the fact that it states that the nucleus is neutral. We know that it's positively charged. So we would disagree with this statement. And lastly we have choice D, which states that the atom is mostly composed of a dense negatively charged region known as the nucleus. And we also would disagree with negatively charged yet again because we know our nucleus is positively charged. So that means that the only correct choice to complete this example is statement be stating that the atom is mostly composed of a dense, positively charged region known as our nucleus. Based on what Rutherford was able to discover in his experiment. I hope everything I went through is clear. If you have any questions, leave them down below and I'll see everyone in the next practice video.

Verified Solution

Key Concepts

Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

Alpha Particle Scattering

Atomic Structure