"On a Diffuse Reflection of the [alpha]-Particles" in "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London."

Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden

Published by Royal Society, 1909

About this Item

Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, "On a Diffuse Reflection of the alpha-Particles" in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, vol 82, London, 1909, published by the Royal Society; viii, 638, xxxix pp, with the Geiger Marsden on pp 495-500. [++] Finely and newly rebound in cloth-backed marbled boards, with new endpapers. Fine copy.] Several small, old, library stamps here and there on the title, table of contents page, and last free endpaper. [++] The fist experimental indication of the existence of the atomic nucleus.[++] "The Geiger Marsden experiments (also called the Rutherford gold foil experiment) were a landmark series of experiments by which scientists learned that every atom has a nucleus where all of its positive charge and most of its mass is concentrated. They deduced this after measuring how an alpha particle beam is scattered when it strikes a thin metal foil. The experiments were performed between 1908 and 1913 by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden under the direction of Ernest Rutherford at the Physical Laboratories of the University of Manchester. In a 1909 paper [the paper offered here], On a Diffuse Reflection of the alpha-Particles, Geiger and Marsden described the experiment by which they proved that alpha particles can indeed be scattered by more than 90 degrees."--from Wikipedia [++] "The beam of alpha particles was observed to spread. Geiger investigated this scattering effect and was joined in 1909 by Ernest Marsden. Using a scintillation detector, they observed the number of particles scattered at various angles of incidence. They detected alpha particles reflected at angles sufficiently large to make inadequate a statistical interpretation based upon multiple scattering. On preliminary evidence Rutherford was led to propose in 1911 that this effect was due to single scattering from compact nuclei. He theoretically predicted the behavior of a set of scattering parameters based upon a nuclear model of the atom. Geiger and Marsden undertook a further series of experiments and verified the predicted behavior of these parameters by July 1912."--Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography online. [++] Large-angle scattering of alpha particles was first reported in [Rutherford's] laboratory [Geiger & Marsden 1909]. His correct interpretation of that scattering led to the realization that most of the mass of an atom is concentrated in a tiny core or nucleus [Rutherford 1911]; thus it is to Rutherford that we owe the nuclear atom and nuclear physics. "--LeMoyne College History of Chemistry pages. Seller Inventory # ABE-1712177277664

Bibliographic Details

Title: "On a Diffuse Reflection of the [alpha]-...

Publisher: Royal Society

Publication Date: 1909

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine