In one or two sentences, explain how Rutherford’s model of an atom changed scientific knowledge and describe the evidence that justified the model

1 answer

Rutherford's model of the atom, proposed in 1911, fundamentally shifted scientific understanding by suggesting that atoms have a small, dense nucleus at their center, surrounded by orbiting electrons, rather than being a uniformly dense sphere as previously thought. This model was justified by his gold foil experiment, which revealed that a small fraction of alpha particles were deflected at large angles, indicating the presence of a concentrated positive charge in the nucleus.