Question

In the gold foil experiment, Rutherford bombarded a gold foil with alpha particles (as seen below). Most of the particles went through the foil and a few were deflected. Which conclusion was a direct result of the gold foil experiment?

A) An atom is mostly empty space with a dense, positively charged nucleus.
B) An atom is composed of at least three types of subatomic particles.

Answer 1

The gold foil experiment led to the conclusion that an atom is mostly empty space with a concentrated, positively charged nucleus at its center.

Step-by-step explanation:

The conclusion that was a direct result of the gold foil experiment, where alpha particles bombarded a thin sheet of gold foil, is A) An atom is mostly empty space with a dense, positively charged nucleus. In Rutherford's gold foil experiment, most alpha particles passed through the gold foil with little deflection, suggesting that they encountered mostly empty space. The occasional large-angle deflections of alpha particles indicated that they were repelling off a dense, positively charged region, which Rutherford concluded to be the nucleus of the atom. This nucleus contained almost all of the atom's positive charge and mass.