1911 (nuclear model) / Europe
Scattering experiments reveal a concentrated atomic center
Rutherford interpreted Geiger and Marsden’s scattering results with a model placing positive charge and most atomic mass in a very small central region.
The story
Some alpha particles were deflected through large angles by thin metal foils, challenging models with diffuse positive charge. Rutherford’s 1911 explanation depended on experimental work by Geiger, Marsden and colleagues. It was not yet today’s complete atomic model: stable electron states, energy levels and the neutron required further theoretical and experimental developments.
Connections and context
Scattering trajectories constrained structures too small to see directly. The nuclear model connected radioactivity experiments to a new picture of matter and to later high-energy probes.
Dates and precision
1911 (nuclear model) Documented date
Positioned by the documented year, month or day. Missing precision is not inferred.
Representative map location
Manchester
The marker represents the University of Manchester research setting.
Representative coordinates · 53.466°, -2.234°
A marker identifies one representative place, such as a manuscript collection, laboratory or observing site. It does not mean the work happened only there, or assign a shared discovery to one country.
Bibliography
- American Institute of Physics: Rutherford’s Nuclear World
- Rutherford Building, University of Manchester
References are listed as plain bibliography titles. They support particular facts or context; a reference does not certify every interpretation in a story.