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The Fundamental Unit Of Life

Question
CBSEENSC9005178

How was it shown that atomic nuclei are positively charged?

                                 Or

Describe an experiment to show that the nucleus of an atom contains positively charged particles.

Solution

The fact that atomic nuclei are positively charged can be shown by performing Rutherford’s α-particle scattering experiment. Take a thin sheet of metal foil. Allow α-particles to bombard over it. It will be observed that only a small fraction of α-particles (positively charged) are deflected through large angles and the rest pass through the foil without any deflection. This shows that positive charge of the atom is concentrated at the centre or the nucleus.