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Which one of the following conclusions could not be derived from Rutherford's alpha-particle scattering experiment?
Explanation
Rutherford's alpha-particle scattering experiment led to several key conclusions: most of the atom's space is empty because most particles passed through the foil [1], nearly all mass and positive charge reside in a tiny central nucleus, and the nucleus is significantly smaller than the atom, with the atomic radius being approximately 10^5 times larger than the nuclear radius. While Rutherford proposed that electrons move around the nucleus, his model relied on classical physics and could not explain stable orbits. The specific conclusion that electrons move in circular paths of fixed energy (stationary orbits) was actually the primary postulate of the Bohr model, which was developed later to address the stability limitations of Rutherford's model. Therefore, fixed energy levels were not a derivation of the scattering experiment itself.
Sources
- [1] https://www.britannica.com/science/Rutherford-model