Question

rutherford tracked the motion of tiny, positively charged particles shot through a thin sheet of gold foil. some particles traveled in a straight line and some were deflected at different angles.
which statement best describes what rutherford concluded from the motion of the particles?
some particles traveled through empty parts of the atoms and some particles were deflected by neutrons
some particles traveled through empty parts of the atom and some particles were deflected by electrons.
some particles traveled through empty parts of the atom and some particles were deflected by the orbits of atoms.
some particles traveled through empty parts of the atom and some particles were deflected by small areas of high - density positive charge in atoms.

Explanation:

Rutherford's gold - foil experiment led to the nuclear model of the atom. Neutrons were not discovered at the time of this experiment, so the deflection was not due to neutrons. Electrons are negatively charged and much less massive than the positively - charged particles (alpha particles in the experiment), so they couldn't cause the large - angle deflections. Orbits of atoms are a concept related to the Bohr model (developed later) and not relevant to the deflections in this experiment. The large - angle deflections were due to the positively - charged, high - density nucleus.

Answer:

Some particles traveled through empty parts of the atom and some particles were deflected by small areas of high - density positive charge in atoms.