Question

Which statement reflects the results of Rutherford's gold foil experiments?

A) Almost all of the alpha particles were deflected while passing through the foil.
B) Almost all of the alpha particles passed directly through the foil.
C) none of these
D) Almost all of the alpha particles were deflected back in the direction from which they came.
E) Almost all of the alpha particles sputtered gold atoms off of the surface of the foil.

Answer 1

The correct result reflecting Rutherford's gold foil experiments is that almost all of the alpha particles passed through the foil with only a small percentage being deflected at large angles due to the presence of a dense nucleus in the atom.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that reflects the results of Rutherford's gold foil experiments is B) Almost all of the alpha particles passed directly through the foil. However, a very small percentage (about 1 in 8000 particles) were deflected at large angles, with some even redirected back toward the source.

This unexpected result led to the realization that the atom is mostly empty space, with a dense, positively-charged nucleus at its center. The majority of alpha particles failing to deflect indicated that they were passing through empty space, and the rare significant deflections suggested that they were encountering a small, dense nucleus.