Abstract
EVIDENCE FOR THE NUCLEAR ATOM. THE steps by which the nuclear atom was established are of such interest that it is worth while to remind ourselves of them. Rutherford was bombarding atoms by the alpha particles projected with known velocities from a deposit of radium C. He has carried out such bombardment many times since, sometimes with surprising and exciting results. But this time he was merely driving the particles through matter and catching them on a fluorescent screen, so as to see how many had been scattered or deflected from their original path, and by how much. If the atoms consisted of a nucleus surrounded by electrons, at planetary distances in proportion to their size, the atom would be as porous as a solar system, and the alpha particles could be trusted to go through it, for the most part, without perceptible perturbation. Some of the electrons might he knocked out, and so the atom become ionised; but the massive alpha particle would take scarcely any notice of minor obstructions, and would proceed untroubled on its way, until it encountered or came exceedingly close to a central nucleus, of mass greater than itself. Such an occurrence would be comparatively rare. Judging by the probable size of the nucleus on this theory, it would not occur more often than i in 10,000 times-probably not so often.
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LODGE, O. The Kinetic Atom. Nature 113, 15–17 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/113015a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/113015a0