Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment and Model of the Atom

Vocabulary flashcards defining key components, models, and discoveries from Rutherford's gold foil experiment.

Gold foil

The material used in Rutherford's experiment that was only one atom thick, through which alpha particles were shot.

Fluorescent screen

A screen set up behind the gold foil to detect where alpha particles ended up and how much they were deflected.

Thompson's plum pudding model

An atomic model predicting that gold atoms were spongy and less dense than alpha particles, leading to the expectation that alpha particles would pass straight through or deflect by at most a degree or two.

Nucleus

An incredibly dense core at the center of an atom containing its positively charged part, surrounded by empty space and electrons.

Rutherford's model of the atom

An atomic model proposing that the positively charged part of an atom is concentrated in a dense core called a nucleus, rather than being evenly distributed throughout the atom.