![]() In 1919, Rutherford used alpha particles to transmutate one element (Oxygen) into another element (Nitrogen). Rutherford was also able to observe that radioactive elements underwent a process of decay over time which varied from element to element. He concluded that though an atom consists of mostly empty space, most of its mass is concentrated in a very small positively charged region known as the nucleus, while electrons buzz around on the outside. "It was as if you fired a fifteen inch naval shell at a piece of tissue paper and the shell came right back and hit you," Rutherford said. Rutherford noted that although most of the particles went straight through the foil, one in every eight thousand was deflected back. In 1909 at the University of Manchester, Rutherford was bombarding a piece of gold foil with Alpha particles. He received the noble prize in chemistry in 1908. With his gold foil experiment he was able to unlock the mysteries of the atomic structure. Pierre Curie was killed in a street accident and Marie died of aplastic anemia, almost certainly a result of radiation exposure.Ĭontributions: Ernest Rutherford is considered the father of nuclear physics. She later discovered two new radioactive elements: Radium and Polonium which took her several years since these elements are difficult to extract and extremely rare. Using Pitchblende and chalcolite Curie found that Thorium was radioactive as well. Further investigation showed that the activity of uranium compounds depended upon the amount of uranium present and that radioactivity was not a result of the interactions between molecules, but rather came from the atom itself. Using a device invented by her husband and his brother, that measured extremely low electrical currents, Curie was able to note that uranium electrified the air around it. Though it was Henri Becquerel that discovered radioactivity, it was Marie Curie who coined the term. Marie Curie became the first woman to be awarded the nobel prize and the first person to obtain two nobel prizes when she won the prize for the discovery of Polonium and Radium in 1911. Pierre (1859-1906) and Marie (1867-1934) CurieĬontributions: Pierre and Marie were award the Noble Prize in Physics in 1903 for their work on radioactivity. What Becquerel had discovered was radioactivity. Instead, the salts left very distinct outlines in the photographic paper suggesting that the salts, regardless of lacking an energy source, continually fluoresced. ![]() ![]() ![]() After a few days Becquerel returned to his experiment unwrapping the photographic paper and developing it, expecting only a light imprint from the salts. He placed the wrapped plates into a dark desk drawer. Unfortunately, he had to delay his experiment because the skies over Paris were overcast. With the intention of further advancing the study of x-rays, Becquerel intended to place the concealed photographic paper in the sunlight and observe what transpired. Using a method similar to that of Roentgen, Becquerel surrounded several photographic plates with black paper and florescent salts. Henri Becquerel learned of Roentgen's discovery of x-rays through the fluorescence that some materials produce. \( \newcommand\)Ĭontributions: Received the Noble Prize in physics for being the first to discover radioactivity as a phenomenon separate from that of x-rays and document the differences between the two. ![]()
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