What Are The Excess And Advantages Of Rutherford's Atomic Model? Find Out The Answer Here

YOGYAKARTA The Rutherford atomic model became one of the important milestones in the development of modern atomic theory. The theory was introduced by Ernest Rutherford in 1911 following the well-known alpha particle abundance experiment. However, despite providing a new understanding of the atomic structure, there are several drawbacks to Rutherford's atomic model which then prompted other scientists to develop a more perfect theory.

This weakness arose due to the Rutherford model, although it was able to explain the existence of atomic cores and voids in the vicinity, unable to answer all the phenomena observed in physics and chemistry. This made researchers at its time seek a more detailed explanation of the behavior of electrons and the stability of atoms.

Quoted from the Lumen Learning page, the model of Rutherford atoms illustrates that all the positive charges and part of the atomic mass are concentrated in a very small space called nuclear (atomic matter) in the interior of the atoms. Inside the nuclei there are protons and neutrons contributing to almost all atomic masses.

The theory also states that a fraction of the atomic volume is filled by a substance called the electron. The negatively charged Electron is distributed around the atomic nucleus, forming most of the atomic volume.

The atomic nucleus was obtained after alpha-ray grazing experiments. The experiment shows that most alpha particles pass through gold thin plates without deviation, but a small fraction of alpha particles experience large angle deflection.

From the experiment, Ernest Rutherford concluded that atoms have very small and positively charged cores surrounded by negatively charged electron-electrons.

Although the model of Rutherford atoms managed to explain the atomic core, however, this theory still has some shortcomings, including:

The model of hydrogen atoms cannot explain the spectrum of the lines of hydrogen atoms, because:

There are several reasons why the Rutherford Atomic Model failed to explain the stability of atoms, including:

On the other hand, Rutherford's Atomic Theory also has several advantages including: