More than two thousand four hundred years ago, Democritus produced the theory that all matter contains tiny particles called atoms that are indestructible. Fast forward to year 1803 when scientist John Dalton stated new ideas that all atoms of a single element are identical in size and mass, atoms of specific elements have a different structure than those of other elements, and during a chemical change, atoms are able to separate and combine. Now go back 106 years from today and meet scientist Ernest Rutherford. Ernest Rutherford was conducting his gold foil experiment when he discovered what is known to be one of the greatest discoveries about the atomic theory. Rutherford produced a model of the atom with a dense nucleus in the center and electrons orbiting around it, he gave future scientists a better understanding of an atom, and he discovered two types of radiation. …show more content…
This was known as the “plum pudding” model. Ernest Rutherford put his hypothesis to the test in 1911 when he conducted the gold foil experiment. During this experiment, Rutherford blasted a sheet of gold foil with alpha particles and to his surprise, a few particles were rebounded and deflected back. This lead to his conclusion that there was a nucleus in the center of each atom which was causing the deflection of the particles. Rutherford once said, “We are rather like children, who must take a watch to pieces to see how it works”. His experiment and his quote connect like an analogy, where he took the previous idea of an atom and conducted an experiment in order to see how the atom really