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 showed that atoms have a small, dense, positively - charged nucleus. The positively charged alpha particles (the tiny, positively charged particles in the experiment) would pass through the empty space of the atom (so some went straight), and when they came close to the small, high - density positive charge (the nucleus), they got deflected. Neutrons have no charge, so they can't deflect positively charged particles. Electrons have a negative charge and are very light, so they can't deflect alpha particles significantly. And "orbits of atoms" is not a correct concept here. So the correct statement is the one about deflection by small areas of high - density positive charge in atoms.

Answer:

D. Some particles traveled through empty parts of the atom and some particles were deflected by small areas of high - density positive charge in atoms. (Note: Assuming the options are labeled A, B, C, D in order. If the original options had different labels, adjust accordingly. Since the user's options were not labeled, we assume the last option is the correct one with the appropriate label.)