Where does this come from, and can I check it?

A few alpha particles bounced back, revealing a tiny dense core. The figure is taken from Nobel Prize, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a science fact?

Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Rutherford's gold foil found the nucleus

A few alpha particles bounced back, revealing a tiny dense core In experiments from 1909, Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden fired alpha particles at thin gold foil. Most passed straight through, but about one in eight thousand came back toward the source. Rutherford concluded that the atom's mass sits in a minute positive nucleus surrounded by mostly empty space. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Nobel Prize

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: physics, experiment, atoms

Rutherford's gold foil found the nucleus: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: A few alpha particles bounced back, revealing a tiny dense core. The figure is taken from Nobel Prize, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a science fact?: Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.