Alpha Particle Scattering and the Nuclear Model

Edexcel A-level PhysicsParticle PhysicsLesson 1 of 19

In 1909, Geiger and Marsden, working with Rutherford, fired a narrow beam of alpha particles at a very thin gold foil. The apparatus was in a vacuum, so the alpha particles were not absorbed by air. A detector (a zinc sulfide screen that flashes when hit, viewed through a microscope) was moved around the foil to count the alpha particles scattered at each angle.

Observations and conclusions:
• Almost all the alpha particles passed straight through or were deflected by only small angles. So the atom is mostly empty space.

More in Particle Physics

• Particle Accelerators
• The Linear Accelerator
• The Cyclotron
• Particle Detectors
• Tracks in a Magnetic Field
• Relativistic Energies and GeV
• Mass in MeV/c2
• Particles and Antiparticles

All 19 lessons in Particle Physics · All Edexcel A-level Physics topics