Which of the following statements is not a valid conclusion from alpha particle scattering experiments?
A - Edexcel - A-Level Physics - Question 5 - 2023 - Paper 4
Question 5
Which of the following statements is not a valid conclusion from alpha particle scattering experiments?
A. Most of the atom is empty space.
B. Most of the mass of ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Which of the following statements is not a valid conclusion from alpha particle scattering experiments?
A - Edexcel - A-Level Physics - Question 5 - 2023 - Paper 4
Step 1
A. Most of the atom is empty space.
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Answer
This statement is a valid conclusion from alpha particle scattering experiments. The results demonstrated that atoms comprise a large volume of empty space surrounding a dense nucleus.
Step 2
B. Most of the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus.
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Answer
This statement is also a valid conclusion, as alpha scattering experiments indicated that the majority of an atom's mass is located in the nucleus.
Step 3
C. The nucleus contains all of the charge of the atom.
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Answer
This statement is not a valid conclusion from the experiments because while the nucleus does contain a positive charge (due to protons), it does not account for the negative charge of electrons surrounding the nucleus. Thus, the statement is incorrect.
Step 4
D. The radius of the nucleus is very small compared to the radius of the atom.
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Answer
This is a valid conclusion, as the nucleus is indeed much smaller than the overall size of the atom.
