Suppose you are given a chance to repeat the alpha-particle scattering experiment using a thin sheet of solid hydrogen in place of the gold foil. (Hydrogen is a solid at temperatures below 14 K.) What results do you expect?
Suppose you are given a chance to repeat the alpha-particle scattering experiment using a thin sheet of solid hydrogen in place of the gold foil. (Hydrogen is a solid at temperatures below 14 K.) What results do you expect?

Answer –

It is quite known that the mass of the incident alpha particle (6.64 × 10-27kg) is much more than the mass of hydrogen (1.67 × 10-27Kg). Hence, the alpha particle would fail to rebound since the target nucleus is lighter. From this, it can be concluded that the solid hydrogen is by no means a suitable replacement to gold foil in the alpha particle scattering experiment.