This super scientist worked out what’s at the heart of atoms and established a new science – nuclear physics.
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Golden discovery In 1909, Rutherford and his researchers conducted an important experiment. Positively charged particles called alpha rays were fired at a very thin gold foil. Although most particles passed straight through, some were deflected. This proved that atoms are mostly empty space with a tiny, positively charged centre – the NUCLEUS. Rutherford likened his new model of the atom to that of the Solar System with the nucleus in the centre and electrons orbiting around it.
Nobel Prize Talented scientist Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand in 1871. He discovered that atoms of some elements break down into lighter atoms, giving off a kind of energy called RADIOACTIVITY. In 1908, Rutherford won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery.
Who came before… Chemist John Dalton built on the theories that had existed since ancient Greek times. In the 1800s, he concluded that all chemical elements are composed of indestructible atoms. 88
w? Did you kno I, ar W During World ed Rutherford performts secret experimen ing tect to find ways of de ts. oa -b German U In 1897, physicist J J thompson discovered the electron – the negatively charged particle of an atom. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906.
