Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
A worksheet covering the Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment, its setup, observations, and conclusions about atomic structure for Grade 8 science students.
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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 knowledge of the Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment.
Observe the diagram below, which illustrates the setup of the Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment.
1. What type of particles were fired at the gold foil in Rutherford's experiment?
Electrons
Protons
Alpha particles
Neutrons
2. Most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil. What did this observation suggest about the atom?
Atoms are solid spheres.
Atoms are mostly empty space.
Atoms have a uniform positive charge.
Electrons are located in the nucleus.
3. A small percentage of alpha particles were deflected at large angles, and some even bounced straight back. This indicated the presence of a small, dense, positively charged center in the atom called the .
4. Before Rutherford's experiment, the prevailing model of the atom was the model, which suggested that the atom was a sphere of uniformly distributed positive charge with electrons embedded within it.
5. The Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment disproved the Plum Pudding Model of the atom.
True
False
6. Describe the main conclusion Rutherford drew about the structure of the atom based on the results of his gold foil experiment.