gold is so malleable that with just a hammer and a lot of determination, you can make a sheet of pure gold which is only ~ 3 atoms thick!
(when this sheet was irradiated, Rutherford's team observed that >>99% of the electrons went right through the sheet like a too large sieve. and the percentage of reflected back/passing through is the size of the nucleus vs the atom and that the atom itself is mostly empty)
magibug t1_j2emajn wrote
Reply to How did Rutherford arrive at gold foil as the best choice for his particle experiments? by Poltibolsa
gold is so malleable that with just a hammer and a lot of determination, you can make a sheet of pure gold which is only ~ 3 atoms thick!
(when this sheet was irradiated, Rutherford's team observed that >>99% of the electrons went right through the sheet like a too large sieve. and the percentage of reflected back/passing through is the size of the nucleus vs the atom and that the atom itself is mostly empty)