Question

Describe Rutherford model of the atom, including the locations of protons and neutrons and electrons with respect to the nucleus. How does this model explain the deflection of the beam of an alpha particle aimed at a sheet of foil?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know that Rutherford Atomic Model – The plum pudding model is given by J. J. Thomson failed to explain certain experimental results associated with the atomic structure of elements. Ernest Rutherford, a British scientist conducted an experiment and based on the observations of this experiment, he proposed the atomic structure of elements and gave the Rutherford Atomic Model.

Complete answer:
The observations made by Rutherford led him to conclude that:
A major fraction of the \[\alpha \]-particles bombarded towards the gold sheet passed through it without any deflection, and hence most of the space in an atom is empty.
Some of the \[\alpha \]-particles were deflected by the gold sheet by very small angles, and hence the positive charge in an atom is not uniformly distributed. The positive charge in an atom is concentrated in a very small volume.
Very few of the \[\alpha \]-particles were deflected back, that is only a few α-particles had nearly \[180^\circ \]angle of deflection. So the volume occupied by the positively charged particles in an atom is very small as compared to the total volume of an atom.
Based on the above observations and conclusions, Rutherford proposed the atomic structure of elements. According to the Rutherford atomic model:
The positively charged particles and most of the mass of an atom were concentrated in an extremely small volume. He called this region of the atom a nucleus.
Rutherford's model proposed that the negatively charged electrons surround the nucleus of an atom. He also claimed that the electrons surrounding the nucleus revolve around it with very high speed in circular paths. He named these circular paths as orbits.
Electrons being negatively charged and nucleus being a densely concentrated mass of positively charged particles are held together by a strong electrostatic force of attraction.

Note:
We have to know that Rutherford proposed that the electrons revolve around the nucleus in fixed paths called orbits. According to Maxwell, accelerated charged particles emit electromagnetic radiation and hence an electron revolving around the nucleus should emit electromagnetic radiation. This radiation would carry energy from the motion of the electron which would come at the cost of shrinking of orbits.