Question

Which statement best summarizes the importance of Ernest Rutherford’s gold foil experiment?

It proved that all of John Dalton’s postulates were true.
It verified J. J. Thomson’s work on the atomic structure.
It showed that an electron circles a nucleus in a fixed-energy orbit.
It showed that a nucleus occupies a small part of the whole atom.

Answer 1

It showed that a nucleus occupies a small part of the whole atom. Thomson's model did not have a nucleus.

Answer 2

Answer: It showed that a nucleus occupies a small part of the whole atom.

Explanation: Rutherford's Gold Foil experiment explained that there is a particle or space present due to which few of the alpha rays bounced back to the source due to the repulsive forces. Thus he named this heavy particle as nucleus that occupies the small space of the whole atom.

JJ Thomson led to the discovery of electrons.

Dalton's Theory of Atom consisted of the postulates which all atoms or elements are supposed to follow till date.