Explain the observations made in the Rutherford α-particle scattering experiment.

Explain the observations made in the Rutherford α-particle scattering experiment.

• Most alpha particle passed through metal foil undeflected. This is because most space in an atom is empty.
• A few alpha particles are deflected through small angles less than 90⁰. This is because the positive alpha particle are repelled by the positive nucleus of the gold atom.
• Very few particles are scattered through large angle greater than 90⁰. This is because the chances of head-on collision are very minimal. This implies the nucleus occupies a small portion of the available space.

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