PPT FOR PRACTICUM

1. EDU 104.17
UNDERSTANDING THE DISCIPLINE OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE EDUCATION
(PRACTICUM)
SUBMITTED BY,
ATHIRA HARIKUMAR

2. DIGITAL ALBUM ON THE LIFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF
ERNEST RUTHERFORD
(1871- 1937)
THE FATHER OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS

3. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
 Born : Augest 30, 1871, Spring Grove, New Zealand.
 Ernest was awarded a scholarship to attend Nelson Collegiate school, it was a private secondary school where he would board and
play rugby until 1889.
 Another scholarship, in 1890, to Canterbury College in Christchurch Campus of the University of New Zealand.
 Of the school’s three year course, Rutherford received a B.A degree and won a scholarship for a Postgraduate year of study at
Canterbury.
 In 1893, he completed M.A degree with first class honors in physical Science, mathematics and mathematical physics.
 Yet another year in Christchurch to conduct independent research – investigation of the ability of a high frequency electrical
discharge, such as that from a capacitor, to magnetize iron earned him a B.S degree at the end of 1894.

4.  The same year (1894), he was
awarded an 1851 Exhibition Science
Scholarship, enabling him to go to
Trinity College, Cambridge, as a
research student at the Cavendish
Laboratory under J.J.Thomson.
 IN 1897. he was awarded the
B.A.Research degree

5.  During the period of his B.S, he fell in love with Mary
Newton, the daughter of the woman in whose house
he boarded (the only daughter of Arthur and Mary de
Renzy Newton).
 They married in 1900.
 Their only child, Eileen, married the physicist R. H.
Fowler.

6. SCIENTIFIC CARRIER
 In 1898, he left for Canada, to take up the post of vacancy in Macdonald Chair of Physics at McGill
University, Montreal.
 In 1907, returned to England, to become Langworthy Professor of Physics in the University of Manchester.
 In 1919, he accepted an invitation to succeed Sir Joseph Thomson as Cavendish Professor of Physics at
Cambridge, at the age of 48.
 In 1893, his first original research on the high frequency of magnesium of iron, he developed a
timing device (like clock) which could switch circuits in less than one hundred thousands of
second.

7. RSEARCH & CONTRIBUTION TO
ATOMIC THEORY
 Studied in the field of radioactivity and nuclear physics
in 1899.
 Studied the radiation emitted by Uranium.
 Discovered two different types of rays :: alpha and
beta.
 Alpha- absorbed by a few thousands of a cm of metal
foil & Beta- can pass through 100 times as much foil
before it was absorbed. Found that, both are
electrically charged with opposite signs.
 Shortly thereafter, Gamma radiation, was discovered-
can penetrate as much as several cms of lead, not
affected by electric field, so had no charge.
 Concluded that, beta particles have greater penetrating
power than alpha rays .
 Alpha particles are positively charged and they are
Helium ions carrying 2+ charge.

8. GOLD FOIL EXPERIMENT
 In 1908, Gold foil experiment was a landmark
series of experiments by which scientists
learned that every atom has a nucleus where
all of its positive charge and most of its mass
is concentrated. They deduced this after
measuring how an alpha particle beam is
scattered when it strikes a thin metal foil.
 In 1911, with the help of this experiment, he
concluded the existence of atomic nucleus.
 Atomic Nucleus Discovery - Gold foil
experiment showed that the atom is mostly
empty space with a comparatively tiny,
massive, positively charged nucleus in the
centre.

9. DISCOVERY OF PROTON
 In 1917, Rutherford proved that the nucleus
of the hydrogen atom (ie; a proton) is present
in the nuclei of all other atoms.
 His research resulted in a nuclear reaction
which led to the first ‘ splitting’ of the atom,
where he discovered protons.
 He named his discovery “ protons” based on
the Greek word “ protos “ means first.
 He observed that his scintillation detectors
detected hydrogen nuclei when a beam of
alpha particles was shot into air. After
investigating further, he concluded that the
hydrogen nuclei was originated from the
nitrogen atom present in air, proving that the
hydrogen nucleus was a part of all other
atoms.
 The hydrogen nucleus was later named ‘
proton ‘.

10. PUBLICATIONS
Radio-activity
(1904)
Radioactive
Transformations
(1906)
The Electrical Structure of
Matter (1926).
The Newer Alchemy
(1937)

11. AWARDS
 Rumford Medal (1904).
 Nobel prize in Chemistry (1908)
 Barnard Medal (1910)
 Elliott Cresson Medal (1910)
 Hector Memorial Medal (1916)
 Dalton Medal (1919)
 Copley Medal (1922)
 Franklin Medal (1924)
 Albert Medal (1928)
 Faraday Medal (1930)
Statue of Ernest Rutherford
in New Zealand.
Awards and recognitions in
New Zealand coin
Ernest Rutherford in New Zealand 100 $
currency
Element Rutherfordium,
Rf, Z = 104.

12. HONORS
 The Rutherford (Rd), an absolute unit of radioactivity.
 Rutherford medal, the highest science medal awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
 Rutherford Memorial Medal is an award for research in the fields of physics and chemistry by the Royal Society of
Canada.
 Rutherford Medal and Prize is awarded once every two years by the Institute of Physics for “ distinguished research
in nuclear physics or nuclear technology “.

13. THANK YOU…