Practice Quiz

Praxis II General Science

Category - Physics

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Alpha particles are a type of radiation. What would you expect to happen if you fired a stream of alpha particles at a sheet of gold foil?
  1. The particles would adhere to the sheet.
  2. All of the particles would pass straight through.
  3. All of the particles would be reflected.
  4. Most of the particles will go through, but a few will bounce.
  5. The particles will destroy the gold foil.
Explanation
Answer: D - The diameter of an alpha particle is very small compared to the diameter of a gold atom. Thus, the majority of particles will pass through. However, several particles will hit the gold nucleus, and bounce back.
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