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Rutherford's Enlarged

This paper describes a working-model demonstration of Ernest Rutherford's 1911 experiment about the nature of atoms. In this demonstration, a model of an atom is constructed inside a sealed cardboard box. Ping-pong balls are fired into (and sometimes through) the box to determine the structure of the atom. Like Rutherford's experiment, this demonstration shows that atoms are mostly empty space. Use this demonstration as an opportunity to discuss...

Keywords:: Elementary Particles and Nuclear Physics, Diffractions, History/Policy/Law, NSDL, Atoms, The Nature of Science, Historical Reenactments, Atom, Physics, Diffraction, Conducting Investigations, Chemistry, General, Model, Science and Society, Asking Questions, Materials Science, Ernest Rutherford, Physical Sciences, About Inquiry, Nucleus, Physical Science, Model Building, Atomic Structure, General Science, Technology, Rutherford, Education, The Scientific Worldview

Disciplines:

Science and Technology / Chemistry

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Material Type:: Simulation
Date Added to MERLOT:: July 27, 2016
Date Modified in MERLOT:: June 21, 2021
Author:: Fouad Abd-El-Khalick
Submitter:: Barbra Bied Sperling

Primary Audience:: Middle School, High School
Technical Format:: PDF
Mobile Compatibility:: Not specified at this time
Language:: English
Cost Involved:: No
Source Code Available:: No
Accessibility Information Available:: Unknown
Creative Commons:: This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International