Before 1911, the prevailing scientific model of the atom was the "Plum Pudding Model," proposed by J.J. Thomson. Thomson had discovered the electron and theorized that atoms were composed of a diffuse cloud of positive charge (the pudding) with negatively charged electrons (the plums) scattered throughout.
Ernest Rutherford, along with his assistants Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, set out to test this theory. What they found instead completely upended physics.
The results were shocking.
This was the scientific equivalent of a spanking. Rutherford famously remarked on this phenomenon later:
"It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you."
Working at the University of Manchester, Rutherford’s team aimed a beam of alpha particles (positively charged helium nuclei) at an extremely thin sheet of gold foil.
According to the Plum Pudding model, the alpha particles should have passed through the foil with little to no deflection. Because the positive charge was thought to be spread out, it shouldn't have been dense enough to repel the fast-moving alpha particles significantly.
Before 1911, the prevailing scientific model of the atom was the "Plum Pudding Model," proposed by J.J. Thomson. Thomson had discovered the electron and theorized that atoms were composed of a diffuse cloud of positive charge (the pudding) with negatively charged electrons (the plums) scattered throughout.
Ernest Rutherford, along with his assistants Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, set out to test this theory. What they found instead completely upended physics. rutherford spanking
The results were shocking.
This was the scientific equivalent of a spanking. Rutherford famously remarked on this phenomenon later: Before 1911, the prevailing scientific model of the
"It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you." This was the scientific equivalent of a spanking
Working at the University of Manchester, Rutherford’s team aimed a beam of alpha particles (positively charged helium nuclei) at an extremely thin sheet of gold foil.
According to the Plum Pudding model, the alpha particles should have passed through the foil with little to no deflection. Because the positive charge was thought to be spread out, it shouldn't have been dense enough to repel the fast-moving alpha particles significantly.