Rutherford Scattering

 Rutherford Scattering

Rutherford detected the alphas by letting them impact photographic film. When he had them pass through a thin sheet of mica before hitting 

the film  he found the image was blurred at the edges, evidently the mica was deflecting the alphas through a degree or two. 

He also knew that the alphas wouldn't be deflected a detectable amount by the electrons in the atom, since 

the alphas weighed 8,000 times as much as the electrons, atoms contained only a few dozen electrons, and the alphas were very fast. 

The mass of the atom must be tied up somehow with the positive charge

Rutherford Scattering

• Rutherford detected the alphas by letting them impact photographic film. When he had them pass through a thin sheet of mica before hitting the film he found the image was blurred at the edges, evidently the mica was deflecting the alphas through a degree or two. 
• He also knew that the alphas wouldn't be deflected a detectable amount by the electrons in the atom, since the alphas weighed 8,000 times as much as the electrons, atoms contained only a few dozen electrons, and the alphas were very fast. The mass of the atom must be tied up somehow with the positive charge.
• It is a phenomenon explained by Ernest Rutherford in 1911
• It led to the development of Rutherford Model