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Rutherford's alpha-particle scattering experiment led to the conclusion that the atom:
AHas its positive charge distributed uniformly throughout its volume
BHas its positive charge and most of its mass concentrated in a very small central region called the nucleus
CHas electrons embedded in a sphere of positive charge
DIs held together by gravitational forces between protons and electrons
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Has its positive charge and most of its mass concentrated in a very small central region called the nucleus
The observation that a small but non-zero fraction of alpha particles were scattered through very large angles (some even backwards) ruled out Thomson's diffuse-positive-charge model. It implied that the positive charge of the atom and almost all its mass must be confined to a region of size $\sim 10^{-15}\,\text{m}$, which Rutherford called the nucleus, with electrons orbiting in the much larger surrounding volume of $\sim 10^{-10}\,\text{m}$.
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