Born on August 30, 1871, in Nelson, New Zealand. Ernest was the fourth child and second son in a family of twelve.
Received his early education in Government schools.
At the age of 16 entered Nelson Collegiate School was awarded a University scholarship and he proceeded to the University of New Zealand, Wellington, where he entered Canterbury College.
He graduated and Rutherford went to England in 1907 to become a Professor of Physics in the University of Manchester.
In 1919 he accepted an invitation to succeed Sir Joseph Thomson as Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge He became Chairman of the Advisory Council, H.M. Government, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; Professor of Natural Philosophy, Royal Institution, London; and Director of the Royal Society Mond Laboratory, Cambridge.
First researches were concerned with the magnetic properties of iron exposed to high-frequency oscillations
Ernest invented a detector for electromagnetic waves, an essential feature being an ingenious magnetizing coil containing tiny bundles of magnetized wire.
Discovered the existence of alpha and beta rays in uranium radiation and indicated some of their properties
Discovered the atomic nucleus and proposed a nuclear model of the atom.
Demonstrated that radioactive elements give off three types of rays, which he named alpha, beta, and gamma.
Rest won the Nobel prize for chemistry 1908.
Died October 19, 1937.
Rutherford's Atomic Model
Atomic Model Explination:
Rutherford reported his atomic theory describing the atom as being a neutral object, having a positive nucleus, surrounded by negatively charged particles, known as elcectrons that always remain orbiting the positive center. The model proposed that the bulk of that mass was held in the small nucleus, and that the rest of what was there of the atom was mostly empty space.
Errors:
One of the errors that Rutherford ran into was the contents of the nucleus. Although the nucleus is made up with protons (positive charge), he failed to identify the other half of the nucleus; the neutron (neutral charge). Another falsehood Rutherford bumped over was the size and scale of the electrons and protons in each atom. In the model shown above, Rutherford shows the electrons surrounding the protons to be nearly the same size as the nucleus. In fact, electrons happen to be roughly 1/2000 the size of the already tiny protons.
Despite the few errors Ernest Rutherford made in his early 20th century research, his models, in depth analysis, and amazing discoveries set science in motion to live up its full potiental.
Ernest Rutherford
ByTim Brady, Alex Carley, and John Goetschius
Atomic Model Explination:
Rutherford reported his atomic theory describing the atom as being a neutral object, having a positive nucleus, surrounded by negatively charged particles, known as elcectrons that always remain orbiting the positive center. The model proposed that the bulk of that mass was held in the small nucleus, and that the rest of what was there of the atom was mostly empty space.Errors:
One of the errors that Rutherford ran into was the contents of the nucleus. Although the nucleus is made up with protons (positive charge), he failed to identify the other half of the nucleus; the neutron (neutral charge). Another falsehood Rutherford bumped over was the size and scale of the electrons and protons in each atom. In the model shown above, Rutherford shows the electrons surrounding the protons to be nearly the same size as the nucleus. In fact, electrons happen to be roughly 1/2000 the size of the already tiny protons.
Despite the few errors Ernest Rutherford made in his early 20th century research, his models, in depth analysis, and amazing discoveries set science in motion to live up its full potiental.