Which physicist was famous for the gold foil experiment?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. Ernest Rutherford.
The physicist famous for the Gold Foil Experiment is Ernest Rutherford.
Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand-born physicist, is renowned for his Gold Foil Experiment, conducted in 1909 with Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden. In this experiment, alpha particles were directed at a thin sheet of gold foil. Most passed through, but a few were deflected at large angles. This surprising result led Rutherford to propose a new model of the atom, where a dense, positively charged nucleus is surrounded by mostly empty space with electrons orbiting around it. This experiment overturned the earlier 'plum pudding' model of the atom and laid the foundation for modern nuclear physics and atomic theory.
Other Options:
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Niels Bohr: Developed the Bohr model of the atom, building on Rutherford’s findings, but did not conduct the gold foil experiment.
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John Dalton: Proposed the atomic theory, but lived earlier and did not perform this experiment.
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J.J. Thomson: Discovered the electron and proposed the plum pudding model, which Rutherford’s experiment disproved.