What is the Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment?
Rutherford directed alpha particles at a very thin layer of gold foil to determine the structure of an atom.
What is the Plum Pudding Model?
The plum pudding model is a historical (and incorrect) model of the atom that has electrons surrounded by a volume of positive charge, like negatively charged "plums" embedded in a positively charged "pudding".
What is a proton?
A proton is a positively charged particle that makes up a part of the nucleus of an atom.
What is an electron?
An electron is a negatively charged particle that is in a “cloud” surrounding the nucleus of an atom.
What is the fundamental or elementary charge?
The fundamental (also called the elementary) charge is the charge on a single electron or proton. The charge on a proton is +1.6 × 10-19 coulombs, while the charge on an electron is -1.6 × 10-19 coulombs.
What is a neutron?
A neutron is a particle that makes up part of the nucleus of an atom. The neutron does not have a charge.
What is the atomic radius?
The atomic radius of an atom is the distance from the center of the nucleus to the outermost electrons of the atom.
What is an alpha particle?
An alpha particle is a helium nucleus. The particle consists of two protons and two neutrons and have a +2 net charge.
What is atomic mass?
The atomic mass is the mass in atomic mass units of a single atom.
What is deflection?
Deflection is defined as the change in direction of an object or particle due to a net force acting on the object or particle. The net force is exerted by another object, particle, or field.
What is Coulomb’s Law?
Coulomb’s Law describes the force between two electrically charged particles. The equation for determining the force is:
F = k(q1 × q2)/r2
where k = constant = 9.0 × 109 Nm2/C2
q1 = charge on particle 1
q2 = charge on particle 2
r = distance separating the two charges
What is kinetic energy?
Kinetic energy is energy due to the motion of an object or particle.
What is electric potential energy?
The electric potential energy is energy due to the position or charge of two or more charged species that results from Coulomb forces.
How can you find out what’s inside something too small to see? That’s what Rutherford did with his gold foil experiment. Get ready to replicate his experiment to determine the structure and properties of an atom.
