The Structure of the Atom

E. Rutherford

Editor’s Note

Responding to a comment by Frederick Soddy, Ernest Rutherford here clarifies his view on the structure of the atomic nucleus. Soddy had suggested that Rutherford believed the nucleus to contain positive charges only. On the contrary, Rutherford insists, he believes only that the atomic nucleus is small, dense, and positively charged overall. Moreover, he thinks that two of the key products of radioactive decay—alpha and beta particles—might both originate from the nucleus. Rutherford supports a recent suggestion that the charge on the atomic nucleus is equal to the atomic number, and not to half the atomic weight. This observation prefigured the revelation that the atomic number is the equal to the number of protons in the nucleus.　　中文

IN a letter to this journal last week, Mr. Soddy has discussed the bearing of my theory of the nucleus atom on radio-active phenomena, and seems to be under the impression that I hold the view that the nucleus must consist entirely of positive electricity. As a matter of fact, I have not discussed in any detail the question of the constitution of the nucleus beyond the statement that it must have a resultant positive charge. There appears to me no doubt that the α particle does arise from the nucleus, and I have thought for some time that the evidence points to the conclusion that the β particle has a similar origin. This point has been discussed in some detail in a recent paper by Bohr (Phil. Mag., September, 1913). The strongest evidence in support of this view is, to my mind, (1) that the β ray, like the α ray, transformations are independent of physical and chemical conditions, and (2) that the energy emitted in the form of β and γ rays by the transformation of an atom of radium C is much greater than could be expected to be stored up in the external electronic system. At the same time, I think it very likely that a considerable fraction of the β rays which are expelled from radio-active substances arise from the external electrons. This, however, is probably a secondary effect resulting from the primary expulsion of a β particle from the nucleus.　　中文

The original suggestion of van der Broek that the charge on the nucleus is equal to the atomic number and not to half the atomic weight seems to me very promising. This idea has already been used by Bohr in his theory of the constitution of atoms. The strongest and most convincing evidence in support of this hypothesis will be found in a paper by Moseley in The Philosophical Magazine of this month. He there shows that the frequency of the X radiations from a number of elements can be simply explained if the number of unit charges on the nucleus is equal to the atomic number. It would appear that the charge on the nucleus is the fundamental constant which determines the physical and chemical properties of the atom, while the atomic weight, although it approximately follows the order of the nucleus charge, is probably a complicated function of the latter depending on the detailed structure of the nucleus.　　中文

(92, 423; 1913)

E. Rutherford: Manchester, December 6, 1913.