in rutherford's experiments of scattering of alpha particles, can we take any other metal instead of gold ?
Dear Student,
Gold was used by Rutherford in the alpha particle experiment as it is highly malleable. As the alpha particles are heavy, therefore their penetrating power is less. Hence to observe the results of the experiment a very thin sheet of metal was required and gold was chosen because it can be hammered into very thin sheets, and would therefore give the best results.
We cannot take any other metal instead of gold as if we take any other instead of gold then the scattering angles would get changed as well as the qualitative results would also change.
Regards
Gold was used by Rutherford in the alpha particle experiment as it is highly malleable. As the alpha particles are heavy, therefore their penetrating power is less. Hence to observe the results of the experiment a very thin sheet of metal was required and gold was chosen because it can be hammered into very thin sheets, and would therefore give the best results.
We cannot take any other metal instead of gold as if we take any other instead of gold then the scattering angles would get changed as well as the qualitative results would also change.
Regards