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Chapter 3: Problem 68

Predict what Rutherford might have observed if he had bombarded copper metal instead of gold metal with alpha particles. The atomic numbers of copper and gold are 29 and 79 , respectively.

Short Answer

Expert verified
If Rutherford had bombarded copper metal instead of gold with alpha particles, lower deflections would have been observed due to the lesser positive charge of the copper nucleus compared to the gold nucleus. However, the basic pattern of deflections supporting the atomic structure with a positively charged nucleus would still be observed.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Rutherford’s Experiment

Rutherford bombarded a thin gold leaf with alpha particles. He found that most of these particles passed through the foil un-deflected but some were deflected at different angles, and a few even bounced back. This led him to conclude that the atom has a compact, positively charged nucleus where all its mass is concentrated, and the rest of the atom is mostly empty space populated with negatively charged electrons.
02

Predicting the Outcome for Copper

If Rutherford had used a copper metal target instead of gold, he would still observe the same basic pattern of deflection due to the nuclear structure of atoms. However, the copper atom has a lower atomic number (29) compared to gold (79), which means its nucleus has less protons and thus a lower positive charge. As a result, lower deflections of alpha particles might be observed because the repulsive force between the alpha particles and the copper nucleus would be less than that with the gold nucleus.
03

Concluding the Prediction

The deflection pattern observed would thus still support the nuclear structure of the atom, but with lesser deflections when a copper atom is used instead of a gold atom, keeping the alpha particles same.

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