What particles did Rutherford open? Experience and scheme of Rutherford's experience

Ernest Rutherford is a brilliant scientist who has made several truly great discoveries in chemistry and physics. What progress has physics led to a new path of development? What particles did Rutherford open? Details of the biography and scientific activities of the researcher find out in the article.

The beginning of the life path

Biography of Rutherford begins with the small town of Spring Grove in New Zealand. There in 1871 a future physicist and scientist was born into a family of immigrants. His father, a Scotsman by birth, was a woodworking master and had his own enterprise. From it, Rutherford acquired useful design skills for subsequent work.

The first successes have already taken place at the school, where, for excellent studies, he received a scholarship for the college. First, Ernest Rutherford studies at Nelson's College, then goes to Canterbury. Having a wonderful memory and brilliant knowledge, he is noticeably different from other students.

Rutherford receives an award in mathematics, writes the first scientific work on physics "Magnetization of iron in high-frequency discharges." In connection with the work, he invents one of his first instruments for recognizing magnetic waves.

In 1895, physicist Rutherford argues with the chemist McLaren for the possession of the World Exhibition Fellowship. By coincidence, the rival refuses the award, and Rutherford is given a good chance to conquer the scientific world. He goes to England to the Cavendish Laboratory and becomes a doctor of science under the direction of Joseph Thomson.

Scientific works and achievements

Arriving in England, the student barely has enough scholarships. He starts to work as a tutor. The scientific leader of Rutherford immediately noted his enormous potential, and was not mistaken. Thomson invited the young physicist to study the ionization of the gas by X-rays. Together, scientists discovered that the phenomenon of current saturation arises in this case.

After successful work with Thomson, he goes deeper into the study of Becquerel rays, which later Maria Sklodowska-Curie calls radioactive. At this time, he makes his first important discovery, revealing the existence of particles unknown before, studying the properties of uranium and thorium.

Later he became a professor at the University of Montreal. Together with Frederick Soddy, the scientist puts forward the idea of transforming elements in the process of decay. At the same time, Rutherford wrote scientific works "Radioactivity" and "Radioactive Transformations", which bring him fame. He becomes a member of the Royal Society, is awarded a noble title.

For the study of the decay of radioactive elements in 1908, Ernest Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize. The scientist discovered the emanation of thorium, the artificial transmutation of elements upon irradiation of nitrogen nuclei, and wrote three volumes of works. One of his most important achievements is the creation of an atomic nucleus model.

What particles did Rutherford open?

In the study of radioactive radiation, Rutherford was not the first. Before him, this area was actively mastered by the physicist Becquerel and the Curie couple. The phenomenon of radioactivity was then discovered very recently, and energy was considered an external source. By carefully studying the uranium salts and their properties, Rutherford observed that the rays discovered by Becquerel are inhomogeneous.

Experiment Rutherford with foil showed that the radioactive beam is divided into several streams of particles. One stream of aluminum foil is able to absorb, the other can pass through it. Each of them is a set of small elements called by the scientist alpha and beta particles or rays. Two years later, the Frenchman Villar opened the third type of rays, which, as Rutherford called, was called gamma rays.

The particles discovered by Rutherford had a tremendous impact on the development of nuclear physics. A breakthrough was made and it was proved that the energy comes from the uranium atoms themselves. Alpha particles were defined as positively charged helium atoms, beta particles were electrons. Gamma particles discovered later are electromagnetic radiation.

Radioactive decay

The discovery of Rutherford gave impetus not only to physical science, but to himself. He continues to study radioactivity at the University of Montreal in Canada. Together with the chemist Soddy, they carry out a series of experiments, by which they note that the atom changes during the emission of its particles.

Like the medieval alchemists, scientists transform uranium into lead, making another scientific breakthrough. Thus, radioactive decay was discovered . The law according to which the decay occurs, Rutherford and Soddy described in the works "Radioactive transformation" and "Comparative study of the radioactivity of radium and thorium."

The researchers determine the dependence of the decay intensity on the number of radioactive atoms in the sample, as well as on the past time. It was noted that with the passage of time the decay activity decreases geometrically. For each substance it takes time. On the basis of the rate of decay, Rutherford succeeded in formulating the principle of half-decay.

The planetary model of an atom

At the beginning of the 20th century, many experiments were already conducted to study the nature of atoms and radioactivity. Rutherford and Villar open alpha, beta and gamma rays, and Joseph Thomson in turn opens the electron. He measures the charge-to-mass ratio of an electron and verifies that the particle is part of the atom.

Based on his discovery, Thomson creates an atomic model. The scientist believes that the latter has a spherical shape, on the whole surface of which positively charged particles are distributed. Inside the ball there are negatively charged electrons.

A few years later, Rutherford refutes the theory of his teacher. He claims that the atom has a nucleus that is positively charged. And around him, like planets around the sun, electrons spin under the influence of Coulomb forces.

Scheme of Rutherford's experiment

Rutherford was an outstanding experimenter. Therefore, doubting the model of Thomson, he decided to refute it by experience. Thomson's atom was supposed to look like a spherical cloud of electrons. Then the alpha particles must freely pass through the foil.

For the experiment, Rutherford designed the device from a lead box with a small hole in which the radioactive material was located. The box absorbed alpha particles in all directions, except where the hole was. This created a directional flow of particles. Ahead were several lead screens with slots to weed out particles that deviate from the given course.

A clearly focused alpha beam, passed through all the obstacles, was directed to a very thin sheet of gold foil. Behind her was a fluorescent screen. Each contact of particles with it was registered in the form of a flash. So it was possible to judge the deviation of the particles after passing through the foil.

Surprisingly Rutherford himself, many particles deviated at great angles, some even 180 degrees. This allowed the scientist to assume that the bulk of the atom is a dense substance inside it, which is later called the nucleus.

Scheme of Rutherford's experiment:

Criticism of the model

The nuclear model of Rutherford was at first criticized, because it was contrary to the laws of classical electrodynamics. Rotating, electrons must lose energy and emit electromagnetic waves, but this does not happen, which means they are at rest. In this case, the electrons should fall on the core, rather than spinning around it.

To deal with this phenomenon fell Nils Bohr. He states that each electron has its own orbit. While the electron is on it, it does not emit energy, but has acceleration. The scientist introduces the concept of quanta - portions of energy, which is released when electrons move to other orbits.

Thus, Niels Bohr became one of the founders of a new branch of science - quantum physics. The correctness of the Rutherford model has been proved. As a result, the concept of matter and its movement have completely changed. And the model is sometimes called the Bohr-Rutherford atom.

Interesting facts about the scientist

Nobel Prize Ernest Rutherford received earlier than committed the most important achievement of his life - discovered the atomic nucleus and installed a planetary model of the atom.

The remarkable discovery of Rutherford led to the emergence of a new industry that is studying the structure of the atomic nucleus. It was called nuclear or nuclear physics.

The physicist possessed not only research, but also teaching talent. Twelve of his students were Nobel laureates in the field of physics and chemistry. Among them are Frederic Soddy, Henry Moseley, Otto Gan and other famous personalities.

A scientist is often credited with the discovery of nitrogen, which is erroneous. After all, this was another famous Rutherford. The gas was discovered by the botanist and chemist Daniel Rutherford, who lived a century before an outstanding physicist.

Conclusion

British scientist Ernest Rutherford has become famous among colleagues for his desire for experiments. Throughout his life, the scientist has conducted many experiments, through which he managed to open alpha and beta particles, formulate the law of decay and half-life, develop a planetary model of the atom. Before it was believed that energy is an external source. But after the scientific world learned what particles Rutherford had discovered, physicists changed their minds. The achievements of the scientist helped to take huge steps in the development of physics and chemistry, and also contributed to the emergence of an industry such as nuclear physics.