The Contributions Of Ernest Rutherford And The Gold Foil Experiment

This information has not always been know to man though. Thankfully scientist such as J.J Thompson, Ernest Rutherford, and James Chadwick were able to perform experiments to shed more light on what the atom was made of. The electron was first found in 1897 by J.J Thompson; shortly after in 1911 the nucleus was discovered by Rutherford, leading to him later discovering the proton in 1919. Before James Chadwick discovered the neutron many scientists believed that there were additional protons in the nucleus, along with the equal number of electrons to cancel out the additional charge. Then in 1920 Rutherford thought that the protons plus the electrons made up a new particle but it was never confirmed. After a few years of study John Chadwick was able to discover the neutron through unidentified radiation experiments, one experiment in particular caught his eye Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie had studied unidentified radiation from beryllium as it hit a paraffin wax target. This experiment encouraged Chadwick to do some of his own experiments in 1932 which made him believe that the radiation ejected from beryllium was in fact a neutral particle about the mass of a proton. He also tried many other targets besides the paraffin wax, these included helium, nitrogen, and lithium. These experiments led Chadwick to find the the mass of the new particle was more than the proton, he also found out that the neutrons have no

In this experiment, you will have a chance to test the hypothesis that Ernest Rutherford used when determining the size of the nucleus. In his "gold foil experiment," Rutherford shot alpha particles at gold atoms. Once he realized that the alpha particles were hitting a concentrated positive mass, he developed the nuclear model of the atom. Next, he set out to determine the relative size of the nucleus compared to the rest of the atom. He reasoned that the smaller the nucleus, the less likely it was to be hit by an alpha particle. This led to a simple comparative ratio:

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,

By firing massively charged particles at an atom, he found that atoms are made up of smaller particles (Doc. 1).  This would lead to his discovery of protons also known as alpha particles (OI). After that, he bombarded gold foil and observed that some of the atoms passed through the foil. Therefore, he concluded that atoms are composed of empty space (OI).  

1900 – Gamma-rays were first observed when French chemist Paul Villard was investigating radium radiation. Villard observed that a photographic sheet was affected by radioactive materials when it was shielded by lead and iron. The radiation showed no magnetic deflection. The term gamma ray was coned from Ernest Rutherford several years later in 1903. Gamma-rays are

J. Robert Oppenheimer, a jewish scientist that created the nuclear bomb, was seen as both a positive and negative influence on the world. Oppenheimer helped change the world during the Manhatten Project and after. Being the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" Oppenheimer gained many enemies. People did not like that he opposed the hydrogen bomb and gained cultural power. J. Robert Oppenheimer may have had both positive and negative influences on the world.

1. Choose one of the two shapes above and draw what the path of the marbles might look like if someone repeated the process we used in class. Include at least 10 marble rolls. Make sure that there would enough evidence to estimate the size, shape, and location of the object. Explain your rationale in between 5-7 sentences.

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

Henry Rutherford was born in 1862, and was known mostly for being a mechanic and for creating the first model car and opening up a world-famous company. This should be completely shocking because, he grew up a farm with no education whatsoever. He attended to Lincoln university Pennsylvania and later on went to medical college. After that he meet Selena Sloan, and got married shortly after, they created a child named Henry Rutherford Butler Jr. His son followed in his footsteps and began his medical practice. Rutherford also supported many community organizations to give back some of his success. He wrote general interest columns on what is was like being being African american in his community. He later on passed away on december 17, 1993

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

developing of the atomic bomb and enrico fermi “ he recreated many of his experiments with Niels Bohr, the

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.

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

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.