3. LIFE
Born on AUG 30, 1871 at Bright water,
Newzealand
Son of James Rutherford, a farmer and his wife
Martha.
Studied at Havelock School.
Graduated in both mathematics and physical
science at Nelson college in 1893.
Postgraduate study at Cavendish laboratory.
In 1900, he married Mary Georgina Newton
and they had one daughter, Eileen Mary.
In 1900 , DSc from the university of
Newzealand.
4. AWARDS
In 1907, Chair of physics at the
university of Manchester.
In 1908, Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In 1916, Hector Memorial Medal.
In between 1925 and 1930,
President of the Royal Society and
later as President of the
Academic Assistance Council.
5. MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS
TO SCIENCE
DISCOVERY OF ALPHA AND BETA RADIATION.
In 1898, Rutherford studied the radiation
emitted by uranium
Discovered two types radiation, which he named
alpha and beta
Beta particles have greater penetrating power
than alpha rays.
Alpha particles are positively charged.
Alpha particles are atomic in nature and
produced by the disintegration of larger atoms.
6. DISCOVERY OF NUCLEAR REACTIONS
• Rutherford achieved the first deliberate
transformation of one element into another.
The nuclear reaction was initially written
14N + α 17O + 1H
7. DISCOVERY OF PROTON
14N + α 17O + 1H
Finding Hydrogen produced in the nuclear
reaction
Rutherford began to suspect that the
hydrogen nucleus may be a fundamental
particle
It is the building block of all atomic nuclei.
8. GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT
• Rutherford conducted the experiment by
allowing high speed alpha particles to hit a
very thin gold foil.
• Most of the alpha particles passed through it
• Some particles were slightly deviated
• Some rare ones came back in the opposite
direction.
OBSERVATIONS
9. INFERENCES
• Atom has a central part. He called it nucleus.
• Nucleus has positive charge.
• Volume of nucleus is very small when it is
compared with total volume of atom.
• The mass of an atom is concentrated in the
nucleus.
• Electrons are distributed in the space around the
nucleus.
• Alpha particles are particles having positive
charge and mass.
