Final answer:
Rutherford's hypothesis and gold foil experiment revealed that alpha particles mostly followed a straight path through the gold foil, which led to the conclusion that atoms contain a small, dense, positively charged nucleus.
Step-by-step explanation:
Rutherford's hypothesis predicted that as alpha particles were shot through the atom, most would pass through on a straight path (Option C). This prediction came from his famous gold foil experiment, where he observed that when alpha particles were fired at a thin gold foil, the majority passed straight through without any deflection, suggesting that atoms are mostly empty space. A very small percentage of these alpha particles were deflected at large angles or even bounced back, indicating the presence of a small, dense, positively charged nucleus. Rutherford's observations led to the conclusion that the atom is not a 'plum pudding model' as previously thought, where positive and negative charges are spread out evenly, but rather has a central nucleus where all the positive charge and much of the atom's mass are concentrated.