Rutherford scattering

Rutherford scattering is the deflection of charged particles by atomic nuclei through Coulomb forces. Its angular pattern revealed that an atom’s positive charge is concentrated in a small nucleus.

Coulomb's law: The law describing the electrostatic force between charged particles as proportional to their charges and inversely proportional to distance squared. The Coulomb force between projectile and nucleus produces the scattering deflection.
Geiger–Marsden experiment: A series of experiments in which alpha particles were scattered by thin metal foils, especially gold. These experiments produced the rare large-angle deflections that motivated Rutherford’s interpretation.
Alpha particle: A helium-4 nucleus consisting of two protons and two neutrons, emitted in some radioactive decays. Alpha particles served as the positively charged projectiles in the classic experiments.
Nuclear model of the atom: The view that an atom has a compact, positively charged nucleus with electrons occupying the surrounding space. Rutherford scattering supplied the experimental basis for this model.
Gold foil experiment: The iconic experiment in which alpha particles were directed at thin gold foil and their deflections observed. Gold foil made the rare large-angle deflections central to the case for concentrated positive charge.
Rutherford formula: The relation predicting the differential cross section for Coulomb scattering as a function of angle and particle energy. It quantifies how Rutherford scattering varies with angle and incident energy.
Ernest Rutherford: A physicist who established the nuclear model of the atom and helped found nuclear physics. He interpreted the foil-scattering results as evidence for a compact, positively charged nucleus.
Atomic nucleus: The dense central region of an atom, containing protons and neutrons. The nucleus is the compact source of positive charge inferred from scattering.
Bohr model: A model of the atom in which electrons occupy quantized orbits around a central nucleus. Bohr added quantized electron orbits to the nuclear atom left unexplained by scattering.
Alpha-particle scattering by gold: The deflection of alpha particles by gold nuclei, described approximately by Rutherford’s Coulomb-scattering law at suitable energies. Gold’s high nuclear charge made its foil especially revealing of strong deflections.

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