Question

In Rutherfords gold foil experiment, what caused the deflection of the positively charged particles?

Answer 1

The particles that completely went through passed through the empty space in the atom. The particlesthat were deflected to the sides were deflated by a passing electron that moved the alpha particle out of the way. The particles that were bounced back hit the nucleus in the center that it bounced off.


hoped that helped

Answer 2

Explanation: Rutherford took a gold foil and passed a beam of alpha-particles (carrying positive charge) through it and then he recorded some observations.

He thought that the alpha-particles will pass straight through the foil but to his surprise, some of the particles deflected their path and few of them deflected backward.

He concluded that the atom must have something which is carrying the same charge as that of the alpha particles which made them deflected back.

He finally concluded that the atom consists of tiny, dense and positively charged centre which he later called as nucleus.