Ernest Rutherford

1871–1937 · Nuclear physics, Radiochemistry

British physicist of New Zealand origin, the 'father of nuclear physics'. He discovered the atomic nucleus in the famous alpha-particle scattering experiment. He explained the nature of radioactivity, discovered the proton, and proposed the nuclear model of the atom. He was the first to achieve artificial transmutation of elements (transmutation).

Biography

Born in New Zealand. Studied at Canterbury College, then at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge under J.J. Thomson. Professor at the University of Manchester and University of Cambridge. Winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on radioactivity.

Key discoveries

Discovery of the atomic nucleus (1911) — experiments on scattering of alpha particles by gold foil showed that almost all the mass of the atom is concentrated in a tiny positively charged nucleus.
Rutherford model of the atom — proposed a planetary model in which electrons revolve around the nucleus.
Discovery of the proton (1919) — identified the hydrogen nucleus as a fundamental particle, the proton.
Artificial transmutation — for the first time transformed nitrogen into oxygen by bombarding it with alpha particles, proving the possibility of changing atomic nuclei.

💡 When Rutherford learned that he had received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry rather than Physics, he joked that it was the only time he had managed to turn from a physicist into a chemist.

"He stated that all science is either physics or stamp collecting."

Concepts

electromagnetism nucleosynthesis

Laws

Rutherford scattering formula

Scientists

Ralph Alpher James Clerk Maxwell Shuji Nakamura Wilhelm Wien Ludwig Boltzmann Albert A. Michelson Richard Feynman J. J. Thomson

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Ernest Rutherford

Biography

Key discoveries

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