Gold Foil Experiment

Who conducted the gold foil experiment?

• Marie Curie

• Isaac Newton

• JJ Thompson

• Ernest Rutherford

What was the prevailing model of the atom before the gold foil experiment?

• Plum pudding model

• Quantum model

• Nuclear model

• Bohr model

What was the purpose of firing alpha particles towards a thin sheet of gold foil?

• To generate electricity

• To test the plum pudding model

• To observe the behavior of electrons

• To determine the charge of electron

What did the zinc sulfide screen around the gold foil help detect?

• Neutrons

• Protons

• Alpha particles

• Electrons

According to the prevailing model, where were the alpha particles expected to bounce back mostly?

• At 90° angles

• At 180° angles

• At 45° angles

• They were not expected to bounce back

What was the unexpected pattern of deflection of the alpha particles in the gold foil experiment?

• All alpha particles deflected at 90° angles

• Most alpha particles passed straight through the foil

• A small fraction deflected at various angles

• All alpha particles bounced back at 180° angles

What did Rutherford's nuclear model propose about the structure of the atom?

• Atoms have a uniformly distributed positive charge

• Atoms have a tiny dense positively charged nucleus at the center

• Atoms have no nucleus

• Atoms have a negative charge at the center

What did the deflections of the alpha particles indicate about the atom's nucleus?

• The nucleus is mostly empty space

• The positive charge and mass of an atom were concentrated in a small nucleus

• The nucleus is larger than the whole atom

• The nucleus is negatively charged

What did Rutherford's discovery revolutionize?

• Our understanding of quantum mechanics

• Our understanding of atomic structure

• Our understanding of chemical reactions

• Our understanding of electricity

What did the gold foil experiment fundamentally alter?

• Our perception of the electron

• Our perception of the radioactive decay

• Our perception of the atom

• Our perception of chemical reactions