Ernest rutherfordErnest Rutherford was born on August 30th, 1871, in New Zealand, and died on October 19th, 1937. Rutherford was responsible for the study of radioactivity and the exploration of nuclear physics. Rutherford's knowledge is still being used today, to help answer scientists questions about physics. In 1895, Rutherford developed a more "viable" way of detecting radio waves. In the picture, shows one of Rutherford's most famous contributions to atomic theory, the Plum Pudding Model.
|
Experiments & contribution to atomic theory |
Rutherford discovered that placing Uranium near foil resulted in one type of radiation being easily soaked up or blocked, while a different type had no trouble penetrating the same foil. He labeled the two radiation types “alpha” and “beta.” The alpha particle was identical to the nucleus of a helium atom. The beta particle was the same as an electron or "positron". Also, Rutherford fired alpha particles at foil, Rutherford discovered that an atom's mass is in the nucleus, which developed the "nuclear model". Rutherford used experiments to come up with new ideas and reasoning behind atomic theory.
|
Experiments & Interesting Facts |
Like said above, Rutherford constructed a number of experiments. For example, he "fired alpha particles at foil" known as the experiment to test the "Plum Pudding Model". This was Rutherford's most famous experiment. An interesting fact about Rutherford is that later in 1919, he discovered how to artificially induce a nuclear reaction in a stable element, by studying antisubmarine research.
|