Question

Describe Thomson's cathode ray experiment and how the experimental results led to specific changes in the accepted model of the atom. Be sure to include a description of the atomic model that was accepted by the scientific community before this experiment as well as the atomic model that was accepted after this experiment. (4 points)

Answer 1

In his experiment, Thompson shot a beam of alpha particles at a sheet of gold foil, and only a few of the particles were deflected or reflected right back. Before the experiment, the plum pudding model was believed to be true, where a cloud of positive ions distributed throughout the inner space of an atom. Thompson concluded that there's a high-energy dense nucleus at the center of an atom.