Question

ernest rutherford completed his famous gold foil experiment in 1911. in this experiment, alpha particles were fired at a thin sheet of gold foil. rutherford observed that most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil unimpeded, but a small number of alpha particles were deflected.
three of the following conclusions are from rutherfords experiment. the other one is false. which is the false conclusion?
the atom consists mostly of empty space.
most of the volume of an atom is occupied by its nucleus.
most of the mass of an atom is located in its nucleus.
the nucleus is positively charged.

Explanation:

Rutherford's gold - foil experiment led to the nuclear model of the atom. Since most alpha particles passed through the gold foil, it implies that the atom is mostly empty space. The deflection of a small number of alpha particles (which are positively charged) suggests that there is a positively charged, dense nucleus (where most of the mass is). However, the nucleus is very small in volume compared to the atom as a whole.

Answer:

Most of the volume of an atom is occupied by its nucleus.