Rutherford

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atom is mostly empty space and
that the distance between electrons and the nucleus is
vast compared to the size of the nucleus itself.

In 1919, he discovered the "artificial disintegration" of
nitrogen. His experiments show that under alpha
radiation, nitrogen is decomposed and hydrogen is
formed. Rutherford also devised an electrical method for
counting the number of alpha particles emitted from
radioactive substances. Using this method, he measured
the number of alpha particles expelled per second from
one gram of radium to be 34000.

Before Rutherford, the smallest particle of matter was
represented as a solid ball. Rutherford's experiments with
the decay of radioactive elements caused him to think in
terms of a more definite structure. He observed that the
disintegration of elements was accompanied by emissions
of positive helium and of negative particles of almost no
mass. He then concluded that an atom is not the last unit
of matter, rather, it is composed of subatomic ...

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