Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
Purpose:
Read about the discovery of the nucleus of an atom by Rutherford. We will simulate his experiment.
Materials:
- marbles
- one piece of paper 8.5 X 11 inches.
- thin plywood or cardboard 8.5 X 11 inches.
- small block of wood of any shape, about 3 inches across and 1 inch high.
- tape and glue or two nails
- fringe made out of paper or fabric.
- ruler
- bent cardboard about 30 cm long and 10 cm wide
Directions:
- Attach the block of wood to the thin plywood using glue or two nails. The block of wood should be in the center of the plywood.
- On the other side of the plywood tape the piece of paper.
- Around the edge of the plywood attach the fringe. The marble should roll easily through the fringe and be able to hit the block of wood and come back out. The purpose of the fringe is to hide the center block of wood.
Procedure:
- Fold the cardboard in half to make a runway for the marble.
Roll the marble several times down the cardboard runway at a 90 degree angle to the wall. Observe it's path toward the wall and away from the wall.
- Repeat step 1, but do it at a 45 degree angle. What is the angle of incidence relationship to the angle of reflection? Try other angles if necessary.
- Next roll your marble many times from each side down the runway and under the wooden rectangle. The marble should go under the paper perpendicular to it's edge.
- Your partner will mark short lines where the marble entered and left. The intersection of the lines toward the center indicates where the marble made contact with the wooden block.
- Shoot the marble under all four sides to determine the shape and size of the wooden block.
- Remove your paper and place the wooden rectangle directly over the paper. Trace the outline of the block onto the marked paper. Compare your size and shape results. Remember the marble is round.
Discussion:
- Compare the experiment you just did with Rutherford's experiment: ex. target, particles fired, projectile path, etc.
- How could this experiment be improved?
- Draw a picture of Rutherford's atom.
- What was used for the first artificial transmutation done by Rutherford?
- EXTRA.
- How small is the gold nucleus as compared to the entire atom expressed as a fraction?
- How large would our black be in relation an atom with a 7.3 cm radius (the size of the board)?
- What is the size of the nucleus in magnesium using scientific notation and units of millimeters?
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Read about the discovery of the nucleus of an atom by Rutherford. We will simulate his experiment.
- Attach the block of wood to the thin plywood using glue or two nails. The block of wood should be in the center of the plywood.
- On the other side of the plywood tape the piece of paper.
- Around the edge of the plywood attach the fringe. The marble should roll easily through the fringe and be able to hit the block of wood and come back out. The purpose of the fringe is to hide the center block of wood.
Procedure:
- Fold the cardboard in half to make a runway for the marble. Roll the marble several times down the cardboard runway at a 90 degree angle to the wall. Observe it's path toward the wall and away from the wall.
- Repeat step 1, but do it at a 45 degree angle. What is the angle of incidence relationship to the angle of reflection? Try other angles if necessary.
- Next roll your marble many times from each side down the runway and under the wooden rectangle. The marble should go under the paper perpendicular to it's edge.
- Your partner will mark short lines where the marble entered and left. The intersection of the lines toward the center indicates where the marble made contact with the wooden block.
- Shoot the marble under all four sides to determine the shape and size of the wooden block.
- Remove your paper and place the wooden rectangle directly over the paper. Trace the outline of the block onto the marked paper. Compare your size and shape results. Remember the marble is round.
- Compare the experiment you just did with Rutherford's experiment: ex. target, particles fired, projectile path, etc.
- How could this experiment be improved?
- Draw a picture of Rutherford's atom.
- What was used for the first artificial transmutation done by Rutherford?
- EXTRA.
- How small is the gold nucleus as compared to the entire atom expressed as a fraction?
- How large would our black be in relation an atom with a 7.3 cm radius (the size of the board)?
- What is the size of the nucleus in magnesium using scientific notation and units of millimeters?