Question

What are the strengths and weaknesses of rutherford's nuclear model of the atom?

Answer 1

Rutherford explained the observations made by Geiger and Marsden where alpha particles are scattered through much larger angles than expected. Rutherford explained this using an electrostatic repulsion model by saying that atoms are mostly empty space with a small, dense, positively charged nucleus that repelled and deflected the positively charged alpha particles. This is essentially the same as the modern atomic theory, and therefore, the strength of the model. If you call it a weakness, Rutherford didn't address the arrangement of electrons in atoms.

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Rutherford's atomic model was based on a central nucleus surrounded by electrons, just like in the solar system. In this way, the positive charge of the atom is concentrated in a stationary nucleus of great mass, while the negative electrons move in circular orbits around the nucleus, united by the electrical attraction between opposite charges. Thus, the sum of the positive and negative electric charges of an atom should give zero as a result, that is, they should be equal, so that the atom is electrically neutral.

In this way, the strengths of the model consist in that part of the composition of the atom is empty space and in the electrical neutrality of the atom.

However, this model had no explanation of how a group of positive charges in the core were held together because according to electrical theory, positive charges should be repelled. Furthermore, when considering that negatively charged electrons rotate around the nucleus, they should emit electromagnetic radiation, with the consequent loss of energy, consuming energy that would cause the electrons to collapse with the nucleus. Therefore, this model could not explain the stability of the atom.

And, also, the model couldn't account for all the atoms mass.