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  4. In 1911, the physicist Ernest Rutherford discovered that atoms have a tiny, dense nucleus by shooting positively charged particles at a very thin gold foil. A key physical property which led Rutherford to use gold was that it was

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Q. In $1911$, the physicist Ernest Rutherford discovered that atoms have a tiny, dense nucleus by shooting positively charged particles at a very thin gold foil. A key physical property which led Rutherford to use gold was that it was

KVPYKVPY 2014Atoms

Solution:

In Geiger-Marsden experiment, objective is to target a-particles towards an atom. This is possible only when target is a very thin metal foil.As gold is very malleable, it is possible to produce a foil which is only few atoms thick.