Ernest+Rutherford





Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1971 in Bridgewater, New Zealand. Rutherford gained his scientific back round at Nelson College, Canterbury College, University of New Zealand, and the University of Cambridge. Rutherford later became known as the father of nuclear physics. He deciphered that an atom has a positive charge in its nucleus, designed the model of an atom, performed his own variation of the gold foil experiment. He won the Nobel Prize and split the first atom in 1917. Ernest Rutherford died on October 19, 1937 at the age of 66. He is among the most accomplished scientists in modern history.When Rutherford began his work in 1911 the existing theory of the atom was the plum pudding model. From the Plum Pudding model, Rutherford decided to try and test that theory by using his variation of the gold foil experiment. It took him many years to make sense out of the results. Most of the alpha particles passed right through the gold foil. Some were deflected at different angles and some deflected right back at him. This was known as the "gold foil experiment" He formulated his own atomic model after this. He stated that the atom was a lot of empty space with a small, dense nucleus. In 1932, he discovered how to split the atom, he determined that the nucleus is made of both protons and neutrons. He figured out that the protons are positively charged, neutrons are neutral, and the electrons are much small than the protons and are negatively charged.