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Quest to find the structure of an atom - Rutherford experiment
One of the most groundbreaking discoveries to finding out the structure of the atom was done by JJ Thomson and Ernest Rutherford as seen in the video below. Alpha particles are positively charged which each particle is made up of two protons and two neutrons in its nucleus. Alpha particles are formed by the radioactive decay of a heavier radioactive substance.
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Through the use of alpha particles, Rutherford found that the structure of an atom and that the space occupied by the nucleus is very small and dense . The deflection of the (positively charged) alpha particles also showed that the nucleus contained positively charged particles.
Click on the applet to learn more about the Rutherford model...
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