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essay 1 point 13 how do rutherford’s results support the conclusion that there is empty space inside atoms?
Rutherford's gold foil experiment involved firing positively charged alpha particles at a thin gold foil. Most alpha particles passed straight through the foil, which showed that the majority of the volume of an atom is unoccupied (empty space). Only a small fraction of particles deflected or bounced back, indicating a dense, tiny positive nucleus at the atom's center, with the rest of the atom being empty space holding electrons.
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In Rutherford's gold foil experiment, nearly all positively charged alpha particles passed directly through the thin gold foil. This result demonstrates that the vast majority of the space inside an atom is empty, as the particles encountered no significant obstruction to their path. Only a tiny number of particles deflected or bounced back, which revealed a small, dense atomic nucleus at the center, confirming that most of the atom's volume is empty space.