Researched
Nucleus & Bohr Atom
Rutherford's scattering results (1911) reveal a tiny dense nucleus; Bohr (1913) adds quantised electron orbits.
Open in the interactive tree →Alpha particles fired at gold foil sometimes bounced back, so most of an atom's mass sits in a nucleus with electrons around it. Bohr's model explained hydrogen's spectral lines and the structure of the periodic table and prepared quantum mechanics.
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Quantum Mechanics1925Bohr's atom was the stepping stone to full quantum mechanics
- Nuclear Physics1938Rutherford's nucleus is the starting point of nuclear physics