Discovery of Nucleus through Rutherford's Alpha Particle Scattering Experiment
The alpha particle scattering experiment conducted by Ernest Rutherford in 1909 played a significant role in the discovery of the nucleus of an atom. Here's how it happened:

Experimental Setup:
- In the experiment, alpha particles were directed at a thin sheet of gold foil.
- A fluorescent screen coated with zinc sulfide was placed behind the gold foil to detect the alpha particles.

Observations:
- Most of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil without any deflection.
- Some alpha particles were deflected at small angles, while a few were deflected at angles greater than 90 degrees.
- Surprisingly, a very small fraction of alpha particles (about 1 in 8000) bounced back towards the source.

Conclusions:
- Based on the observations, Rutherford concluded that most of the atom is empty space since most alpha particles passed through the foil.
- The deflection of some alpha particles at small angles indicated the presence of a positively charged nucleus.
- The few alpha particles that bounced back directly implied a concentrated, positively charged nucleus at the center of the atom.

Discovery of Nucleus:
- The results of the experiment led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus, a dense core at the center of an atom containing positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons.
- This breakthrough in understanding the structure of the atom revolutionized the field of atomic physics.
Therefore, Rutherford's alpha particle scattering experiment was crucial in unveiling the existence of the atomic nucleus within an atom.