Question

Rutherford used positively charged particles to investigate the structure of the atom. The results surprised him, and he developed the atomic model shown below. What surprising result is explained using this model? A few positive particles bounced back because they bounced off of the net formed by the ovals. A few positive particles bounced back because they were pushed away from the positive center. Most positive particles passed through because of the empty space between the outer edge and the center. Most positive particles passed through because they were attracted by the small particles moving around the center.

Answer 1

Answer: The correct statement is Most positive particles passed through because of the empty space between the outer edge and the center.

Explanation:

Ernest Rutherford gave an experiment known as Gold Foil Experiment.

In his experiment, he took a gold foil and then bombarded it with alpha particles which carry a positive charge of +2 units. He first thought that many of the particles will bounce back but to his surprise, many of them passed through, some of them deflected their path and a few of them bounced back.

From this he concluded that in an atom, there exist a small positive charge concentrated at the the center and an atom mostly consists of empty space.

Hence, the surprising statement is most positive particles passed through because of the empty space between the outer edge and the center.

Answer 2

The answer is (B): A few positive particles bounced back because they were pushed away from the positive center.