Who discovered the atomic nucleus?
Answer
Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus in 1911 through his alpha-particle scattering, or gold-foil, experiment.
The working
The experiment
Rutherford directed a beam of fast alpha particles at a very thin gold foil and observed how they scattered using a fluorescent screen.
Observation
Most alpha particles passed straight through, some deflected slightly, and a very few bounced almost straight back.
Conclusion
The large deflections meant the positive charge and nearly all the mass of the atom are concentrated in a tiny central region, which he named the nucleus.
Significance
This proved the atom is mostly empty space and led to the nuclear model of the atom, replacing Thomson's earlier model.
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