Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment - Backstage Science -

At the time, scientists believed in the , where an atom was a blob of positive charge with electrons scattered inside like fruit in a pudding. If this were true, the heavy alpha particles should have whizzed straight through the "soft" atoms.

To look inside the atom, Rutherford needed to fire something at it. He used: Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment - Backstage Science

Videos about some of Britain's most amazing science facilities At the time, scientists believed in the ,

A detector that would flash when hit by an alpha particle. The Unexpected Result At the time

Chosen because gold is incredibly malleable and can be beaten into a sheet only about 1,000 atoms thick.