Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
Explore the Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment and its groundbreaking discoveries about atomic structure for 7th-grade science.
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Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Refer to your notes or textbook if needed.
1. What did Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment primarily investigate?
The properties of gold
The structure of the atom
The behavior of light
The density of materials
2. What type of particles were fired at the gold foil in Rutherford's experiment?
Electrons
Neutrons
Alpha particles
Protons
3. Most of the alpha particles in Rutherford's experiment straight through the gold foil, suggesting that atoms are mostly space.
4. A small number of alpha particles were back, leading Rutherford to conclude that atoms have a tiny, dense, positively charged .
5. Before Rutherford's experiment, scientists believed that the atom was a solid, uniform sphere.
True
False
6. The Rutherford model of the atom is often called the 'plum pudding' model.
True
False
7. Briefly describe the main conclusion Rutherford drew from the observation that most alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil.
8. What did the deflection of a small number of alpha particles suggest about the atom?
9. Draw a simple diagram of Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment setup, labeling the alpha particle source, gold foil, and detector screen.
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