Question

What conclusion did Rutherford draw about the position and characteristics of the atom's positively charged part based on the few alpha particles that bounced back or were deflected at large angles in the gold foil experiment?

Answer 1

Rutherford concluded that an atom’s positive charge is concentrated in an extremely small, dense region at its centre, called the nucleus. Because only a few alpha particles were strongly deflected or bounced back, the nucleus occupies very little of the atom; it contains all the positive charge and most of the atom’s mass.