Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment - Backstage Science

Ernest Rutherford's famous gold foil experiment involves the scattering of alpha particles as they pass through a thin gold foil.  It led to a better understanding of the structure of atoms.  It's also known as the Geiger--Marsden experiment, after Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden who performed it under Rutherford's supervision.

Particle physicist Bruce Kennedy explains with this modern re-creation.

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