Ernest Rutherford Research Paper

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) succeeded in splitting the uranium atom and the Nobel Committee later awarded him the 1938 prize for physics. At Columbia

The pioneering work of Becquerel in 1896 (the discovery of uranium), and the Curies (who subsequently discovered radium and polonium and the energy and heat given off by these new elements which they called radioactivity) led to the remarkable work of Ernest Rutherford. He was a physicist, whose experiments showed that some heavier elements spontaneously changed or decayed into lighter elements (unstable 'parent' elements giving off protons and neutrons to form a 'daughter' element) through the process of radioactivity. He discovered that radioactive materials decay at a very predictable rate, and that lead was the final decay product of uranium. Using Rutherford's ideas, Bertram Boltwood pioneered a method of radiometric dating in 1907. He hypothesized that since he knew how long it takes uranium to break down, he could measure the proportions of lead in uranium ores, and use his calculations to date how long those ores had existed,

According to DePra’s poem, “The electron is minus, the proton is plus,/ the neutron is neither” (Doc. 2). In other words, a neutron is neutral, the electron is negative and the proton is positive. After these discoveries, more inventions were made to help further our understanding of atoms, for instance, the the electron microscope. Electrons were discovered before Rutherford by JJ Thomas (OI). Thomas was using a cathode ray and discovered that atoms are made of smaller subatomic particles

One of the scientists that was involved was Enrico Fermi. Fermi was the first to make contact with the U.S. about the Germans starting to experiment with fission. Then Albert Einstein, who was a German physicist who escaped Germany to come to the U.S., eventually persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to start a program around nuclear fission to combat German efforts. Additionally, American scientist Philip Hauge Abelson created a uranium separation process that was necessary is making the atomic bomb.

He discovered many helpful uses for atomic energy. He created the world’s first nuclear submarine named the USS Nautilus. All his work helped to expand the American nuclear fleet that included fifty three submarines and surface ships.

He did not invent the atomic bomb but helped in making it reality. After being a physicist his whole life he was chosen to help create a weapon. The government picked him because of "his many scientific achievements." (Institute of Advancements). He worked with Albert Einstein and some other scientist to figure out how to create the bomb.

During the early 1940’s atomic science had just began to mature. Many people were exploring the powerful mystery of the atom. Two of those people were Eugene Booth and John Dunning, who, in 1941, synthesized uranium-235. Immense scientific growth followed their contribution, since it allowed for nuclear fission (Griffith). In the years following this discovery, nuclear science took a turn. Once only used as a constructive power source, atoms began being explored for their destructive power. In 1942 the United States government funded the Manhattan Project that sole goal was to develop a nuclear bomb. The initiator for this endeavor was surprisingly the famous scientist Albert Einstein. He wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt , and tipped him off

Thompson, is another trailblazing intellect. In the South Island of New Zealand, Rutherford was born into a rural community in 1841, as the fourth child out of a grand total of twelve children (Ernest Rutherford's Life, n.d., para. 1). After graduating from a local school in his community and having honors in all of his subjects, he would go to the Canterbury College in Christchurch, New Zealand (Ernest Rutherford's Life, n.d., para.1). In 1892, he would receive a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in mathematics, while also receiving a Bachelor’s degree in physical science. Subsequently, he spent time researching for years after (Ernest Rutherford's Life, n.d., para. 2). Rutherford then applied for a scholarship, but sadly lost. However, due to the fact that the original winner was unable to use the scholarship, it was granted to Rutherford, taking him to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge (Ernest Rutherford's Life, n.d., para.3). Here, he met J.J. Thomson, and would pursue to continue his previous work with magnetism; however, Thomson would get Rutherford to do research with him on the induction of ionization, specifically with Roentgen rays (Ernest Rutherford's Life, n.d., para. 3). As time went on, Rutherford would begin to study radioactivity through ionization. Through this, he would discover Becquerel rays and their heterogeneous nature (para 4)1. Particularly, he was able to differentiate

Ernest Rutherford was a New Zealand born British physicist who is famously known for “splitting the atom.” His work on the gold foil experiment contributed greatly to the model of the atom and helped develop the standard model of the atom to what we now use today. Without his contributions we would still be using the Plum Pudding model, an out dated and incorrect model, and we would have less of an understanding of how atoms form the world around us.

Both Albert Einstein and Ernest Rutherford helped pave the way for countries to invent the nuclear weapon. Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity and Rutherford’s discovery of the atomic nucleus all helped the United States to invent the bomb. In the book by Andrew Futter, the United States began their experimenting on nuclear weapons with the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project- so called because the initial headquarters were on the Manhattan district of New York City- began in 1942 with the sole purpose of creating an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany. (Futter 17) Work on the project was spread out all over the country; the main research center would be located at Los Alamos in the New Mexico desert. There were two lines of research,

His discovery to radioactivity helped a lot of other scientists. If Henri hadn't discovered it Ernest Rutherford

Bohr was one of the fortunate scientist to have been born in a period to where concepts of the atomic theory have been discovered. Such as the discovery of an electron by J.J. Thomson(when Bohr was 12), Albert Einstein’s ‘barrage of new ideas’ in 1905(Bohr being at the age of 19, working on his gold winning research), as well as the discovery of the atomic nucleus, by Ernest Rutherford(when Bohr was at the age of about 23). All of these discoveries, were the key to developing Bohr’s interest and curiosity to evaluate them through with the scientists themselves.

The Discovery of the Atom first came from the Greeks which made a theory “The idea that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles, or atoms, is believed to have originated with the Greek philosopher Leucippus of Miletus and his student Democritus of Abdera in the 5th century B.C. (The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.”)” (InfoPlease Atomic theory)

This is what led Curie to take Becquerel’s work a few steps further and conduct her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays were constant no matter what form or condition of the uranium. She theorized the rays came from the atomic structure. This idea was revolutionary and created its own field in science, known as the atomic physics, this is when Marie coined the word “radioactivity” to describe the phenomena. Even when they had their first daughter Irene in 1897 there work did not slow. Pierre then stopped his own studies to help Marie with her new discovery of radioactivity. In 1898 they discovered a new radioactive element. They named it polonium after Marie’s native country, Poland. They detected the presence of another radioactive element and called this radium. In 1902 they had extracted pure radium to prove its existence as a unique chemical element.

He proposed that under certain circumstances light could be considered a particles. He also hypothesized that the energy carried by a photon is depositional to the frequency of radiation. The formula E= HU proves this. Virtually no one accepted this theory but thought differently when Robert Andrews Millikan proved it.