Which conclusion could be made from Ernest Rutherford’s gold

Subject : Chemistry

Question:

Which conclusion could be made from Ernest Rutherford’s gold foil experiment?

A) Atoms are made up of mostly empty space.

B) Atoms are mainly solid and block alpha particles.

C) The volume of the nucleus is large compared to the rest of the atom.

D) The mass of the nucleus is small compared to the rest of the atom.

Expert Verified Solution:

The correct Answer is A) Atoms are made up of mostly empty space.

Description: Ernest Rutherford’s gold foil experiment led to the conclusion that atoms have a small, dense nucleus at their center, which contains most of the atom’s mass. Most of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil with little deflection, indicating that atoms are largely empty space. The experiment demonstrated that the positive charge and most of the atom’s mass are concentrated in a tiny, dense nucleus, while the majority of the atom’s volume is empty space.