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💡 The catch
Rutherford’s nucleus was a big step — but his atom had a fatal flaw. If it were true, atoms would collapse in an instant.
Why couldn’t Rutherford’s model explain stability?
- An electron moving in a circle is always changing direction — it is accelerating .
- An accelerating charged electron should lose energy .
- Losing energy, it would spiral into the nucleus.
- Then atoms would collapse — but real atoms are stable.
👤 Meet a Scientist — Ernest Rutherford
- Born in New Zealand; moved to Cambridge to work with J. J. Thomson.
- Known as the Father of Nuclear Physics ; discovered the atomic nucleus.
- Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1908) ; his portrait appears on New Zealand’s $100 note.
Important Definitions
- Atomic stability — the fact that atoms do not collapse; Rutherford could not explain it because a revolving electron should lose energy and spiral into the nucleus.
