Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment in 1909 was a big step in understanding what atoms are made of. Here's a simpler breakdown of what happened:

Setup: Scientists shot tiny particles called alpha particles at a very thin piece of gold foil. This foil was about 0.001 mm thick, which is super thin!

What They Saw:

• Most of the alpha particles, around 99%, went right through the foil. This showed that atoms have a lot of empty space in them.
• However, about 1% of the particles bounced back at really big angles, more than 90 degrees.

What It Means: From this experiment, scientists figured out that atoms have a heavy center called a nucleus. This nucleus is packed with protons and neutrons, and there are smaller particles called electrons buzzing around it. This new understanding replaced an older idea called the plum pudding model, which didn’t show the atom’s true structure very well.

In short, Rutherford's experiment helped us learn about the different parts of an atom and how they are arranged!