Aurora+Edington

   

  Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871 in Spring Grove, located near [|Nelson, New Zealand.] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Rutherford’s   <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">parents, James and Martha (Thompson) Rutherford, strongly supported their son’s education. After three years as a boarder at Nelson College, Rutherford received a scholarship to <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Canterbury College] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">in Christchurch, New Zealand. Between the years of 1892-1894 he earned his Bachelors Degree, his Master of Arts with honors in mathematics and mathematical physics, and his Bachelor of Science. In 1895, Rutherford chose to work under [|J.J. Thomson] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Together, Thomson and Rutherford experimented with <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|X-Rays] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> and  <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|radioactivity] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">. Ultimately, Rutherford's work with radioactivity would become his passion and lead to   <span style="font-size: 70%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">  <span style="font-size: 70%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">his greatest breakthroughs. In 1897, Rutherford discerned two distinct emissions coming from the radioactive atoms and named them <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|alpha and beta rays]  <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">. After becoming a professor of physics <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> in Canada and <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 93%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">assisted by     <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> [|Frederick Soddy]   <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 93%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__,__ Rutherford found that the alpha, beta, and gamma rays were actually the disintegration of a decaying atom. For this discovery, Rutherford was awarded the distinguished <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|1908 Nobel Prize] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> in chemistry. Married to <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Mary Newton] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> in 1900, he returned to Manchester University in England with her and Eileen, his daughter, in 1907. In 1911, through his “gold-foil” experiment, Rutherford created his <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|planetary model] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> of the atom, a much improved version over J.J. Thomson’s former [|“plum pudding” version.] <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">During World War I, Rutherford worked to develop methods of detecting German submarines. In 1918, <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rutherford <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">became the <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">first person to successfully convert one element into another. Rutherford’s ashes are buried in Westminster Abbey near Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin following his death on October 19, 1937. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 93%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">  <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">      <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(238,27,23);"> <span style="color: rgb(238,27,23);"> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);">

=<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Gold Foil Experiment = <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> In 1911, Ernest Rutherford, along with two collegues [|Hans Geiger] and [|Ernest Marsden], <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(11,10,10); font-family: Georgia,serif;">      <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">  set up an experiment in his laboratory at the University of Manchester, in England, to find the nature of atoms. By shooting highly charged He2+, or alpha particles, at a very thin metal foil, he could see what the structure of atoms was like. Based on the " [|plum pudding] " model of J.J. Thompson's that was widely recognized at the time, the logical result would have been that the particles would go straight through the foil, without any deflections except perhaps for a very slight change due to the large swath of positive charge that made up the "pudding." Contrary to this prediction, when the alpha particles were shot at the foil, some alpha particles, about one in ten thousand, were deflected straight back towards the projector, and at all angles.

To see a simulation of Rutherford's expectations from the experiment, and what the actual results turned out to be, click <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> [|here.] <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The video below illustrates the results of the experiment: media type="youtube" key="5pZj0u_XMbc" height="344" width="425" <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">

The deflection of the alpha particles proved that some part of atoms had to be more massive, or more dense, than the alpha particles. The large number of particles that passed through the foil and were not deflected also pointed to a large amount of space within atoms. Based on this experiment, Rutherford created a completely new idea about the structure of the atom, creating his [|Planetary Model.]

=<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">Rutherford's Planetary Model = <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> After completing the gold-foil experiment, Rutherford knew that Thomson’s previous “ [|plum-pudding] ” model of the atom was incorrect. With the knowledge that within the atom there was a very small, yet very dense //object// deflecting the alpha particles away, Rutherford concluded that there was a small, massive nucleus at the center of the atom, with electrons orbiting around it.

Rutherford’s new model of the atom excited the scientific community. It gave a new structure to the smallest known building block of our world. However, there were undeniable problems with the structure. [|Niels Bohr], a colleague of Rutherford, would develop the planetary model into the [|Bohr atomic model] , one that still remains to be true today.

Even though Rutherford’s planetary model was remodeled by Niels Bohr only several years after it was established, it continues to be used to teach atomic structure to pre-chemistry students. Its simplistic structure is easily understood and recognized as an atomic model and consequently Rutherford’s planetary model is still a well-known design. Rutherford’s achievement in conceiving the planetary structure was the crucial first step in determining the true structure of the atom and without it, there’s no way of knowing where we would be in our atomic and chemistry knowledge today.

= <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Discovering the Proton  = =<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> = <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Having discovered his new planetary model of the atom, Rutherford continued to research the nature of the positive charge within the nucleus. Setting up another experiment, Rutherford placed a small glass tube inside a sealed brass box which had a zinc-sulfide screen. He filled the brass box with nitrogen gas, and shot alpha particles through the glass tube. When he looked at the zinc-sulfide screen he was able to detect positively charged [|hydrogen ions]. What excited Rutherford was that the hydrogen was not present in the experiment, and therefore he came to the conclusion that the hydrogen ions must have come from the nitrogen atom when it was split by the radiation. These hydrogen atoms, which he called protons, made up the positive charge in the nucleus. In his own words, <span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">//<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">"We must conclude that the nitrogen atom is disintegrated under the intense forces developed in a close collision with a swift alpha particle, and that the hydrogen atom which is liberated formed a constituent // //<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">part of the nitrogen nucleus." //    //-Ernest Rutherford//

<span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This experiment was the first successful splitting of an atom, turning nitrogen gas  into oxygen. This was the first artificial transmutation of an element, a goal of [|alchemists] for hundreds of years. After his discovery of the proton, Rutherford also predicted the existence of the [|neutron], a particle about the same mass as the proton but had no charge. Although he never found this particle, he did plant the idea in the mind of young [|James Chadwick]who worked with him at his Cavendish Laboratory and eventually discovered the neutron.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">For an overview of Rutherford's planetary model, please view the video below:

media type="youtube" key="wzALbzTdnc8" height="344" width="425"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">For more information on Ernest Rutherford, visit any of the following websites: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">
 * __<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1908/rutherford-bio.html __
 * __<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ernest-rutherford-wsd/ __
 * __<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/rutherford/rutherford.html __
 * __<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">http://www.nzterritory.com/famous/rutherford.html __

__<span style="display: block; font-size: 110%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Works Cited: __ Information: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Darling, David. "Rutherford's experiment and atomic model." __The Worlds of David Darling__. 1999. 06 Jan. 2009 <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/R/Rutherfords_experiment_and_atomic_model.html>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __Ernest Rutherford-Biography__. 2008. The Nobel Foundation. 4 Jan. 2009 <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1908/rutherford-bio.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Ernest Rutherford Biography | World of Scientific Discovery Biography." __BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides__. 05 Jan. 2009 <http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ernest-rutherford-wsd/>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

"Lord Ernest Rutherford." __New Zealand__ __-- Land Of The Long White Cloud__. 05 Jan. 2009 <http://www.nzterritory.com/famous/rutherford.html>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Olson, Richard, ed. __Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists__. New York: Marshall Cavendish Reference Books, 2000. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

Saari, Peggy, and Stephen Allison. __Scientists Series Vols. 1-3 : Their Lives and Works__. Farmington Hills: UXL, 1996.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The World & I: Ernest Rutherford." __Online Magazine: The World & I Online Magazine__. 05 Jan. 2009 <http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/rutherford/rutherford.html>. Media: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Atom - Our energy." __Home - Our energy__. 08 Jan. 2009 http://www.our-energy.com/atom.html. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Campbell, John. Ernest Rutherford. Digital image. __Ernest Rutherford-Scientist Supreme__. 2001. <http://www.rutherford.org.nz/>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Digital image. __Ernest Rutherford FRS__. The Royal Society. 4 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=8142 <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">>. <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">     <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __The Discovery of the Atomic Nucleus (3 of 15)__. Perf. Dr. Brian Cox. __You Tube__. 1 Mar. 2008. 3 Jan. 2009 < <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzALbzTdnc8 <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">>. <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ernest Rutherford's Planetary Model. Digital image. 7 Jan. 2009 <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Stylised_Lithium_Atom.svg/270px-Stylised_Lithium_Atom.svg.png>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

J.J. Thompson's Plum Pudding Model of the Atom. Digital image. 7 Jan. 2009 <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Plum_pudding_atom.svg/348px-Plum_pudding_atom.svg.png>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Mc Graw Hill. 06 Jan. 2009 <http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/essentialchemistry/flash/ruther14.swf>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Rutherford____'s Experiment: Nuclear Atom__. __You Tube__. 22 Apr. 2008. 3 Jan. 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pZj0u_XMbc>. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Rutherford's experiment with nitrogen gas and alpha particles resulting in the discovery of the proton. Digital image. 8 Jan. 2009 <http://www.goalfinder.com/images/SPAPRO5/Rutherford-proton-experimen.jpg>.

Quotes <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Ernest Rutheford &raquo; Famous Quotes By Ernest Rutheford." __Famous Quotes &raquo; Top Famous Quotes And Quotations__. 07 Jan. 2009 <http://www.famousquotessite.com/famous-quotes-8548-ernest-rutheford.html>.

"Ernest Rutherford: The Splitting of the Atom and Discovery of the Proton." __The Manhattan Rare Book Company: Rare Books and First Editions__. 08 Jan. 2009 <http://www.theworldsgreatbooks.com/rutherford.htm>.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

__Attributions__<span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Aurora Edington: Heading, Biography, Rutherford's Planetary Model Sarah Perkins: The Gold Foil Experiment, Works Cited, Discovering the Proton

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