1. GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT

2. The Gold Foil Experiment
Ernest Rutherford performed his famous gold foil experiment discovering the nucleus of an atom, and revising the JJ Thompson’s plum pudding model into a planetary model.

3. The Gold Foil Experiment
This experiment was profound because it was the first time we could see inside the invisible.
Observe the diagram and write down what you notice. What evidence is shown to conclude the existence of sub-atomic particles inside an atom?

4. The Gold Foil Experiment
Click on the simulation.
Does this simulation confirm what you wrote down on the previous slide, or do you have any new observations?

5. PLUM PUDDING to the PLANETARY MODEL
When Rutherford shot a radioactive beam at gold foil and some particles bounced back he concluded:
All atoms were a positively charged nucleus in the center which contains 99.9% of the mass
Electrons orbit the nucleus
Most of an atom is empty space

6. CLAY PROBING EXPERIMENT
Objective: Each ball has a mystery object inside and it is your job to detect what is inside without looking inside.
Instructions:
Select one person in your group to get two clay atom balls of different colors and a paper clip.
Open up the paper clip so it can become a probing tool.
Begin by probing one ball and making observations or measurements as you rotate the ball around. With each ball revise your methods of probing to become more systematic.

7. CLAY PROBING EXPERIMENT
Instructions:
Make a chart to write down your observations, measurements, and conclusions.
When you are finished with both colors, close up the holes on the ball, roll back into a sphere in your hands, return to the bin, and select 2 more different colored atom balls.
Repeat the probing.
Rules:
DO NOT open up the clay! OR smoosh the clay to feel the inside!

8. The Gold Foil Experiment
Color Atom Ball
Observation
Measurement
Conclusion
Red
Marble
Blue
Penny
Yellow
Dice
Green
Jack