Alpha particles | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Duration: 3'55''

Synopsis

Rutherford stated the fact that most alpha particles go straight through foil is evidence for the atom being mostly empty space.

Further Information

More clips from Chemistry: A Volatile History

03: The Power of the Elements | Chemistry: A Volatile History

03: The Power of the Elements | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 59'04''

Jim Al-Khalili reveals the breakthroughs which harnessed elements' ability to release vast power, showing how s...

Carbon bonds | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Carbon bonds | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 3'17''

Scott Cooper was fascinated by how carbon atoms combined with other atoms, inventing the notion of ''bonds''.

Iron compound and synthetic pigment | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Iron compound and synthetic pigment | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 4'34''

A demonstration of how Diesbach stumbled across the ingredients for the first synthetic paint.

Isomers | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Isomers | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 4'46''

Jim Al-Khalili reveals the history of isomerism which was first noticed in 1827, when Friedrich Woehler prepared cyanic acid.

Nylon | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Nylon | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 2'07''

Jim Al-Khalili reveals the breakthroughs which harnessed elements' ability to release vast power, showing how scientists are trying to ...

Plutonium | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Plutonium | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 2'25''

Invented in 1940, scientists quickly realised plutonium was capable of undergoing nuclear fission.

Radium | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Radium | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 3'11''

Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie.

More resources about Atomic Structure

Chernobyl disaster | Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb

Chernobyl disaster | Inside Chernobyl's Mega Tomb

BBC Four | 2016 | 3'25''

Introduction to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the temporary construction that was built to contain the radiation.

History of the Atom: From Rutherfor to Bohr | Chemistry: A Volatile History

History of the Atom: From Rutherfor to Bohr | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 3'00''

Spec references J248: C1.2a J250: C1.2a. Professor Jim Al-Khalili explains the history of the ato...

02: Out of Sight | Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds

02: Out of Sight | Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds

BBC HD | 2010 | 58'22''

Richard Hammond uses groundbreaking imaging technology to take the viewer on a journey of discovery beyond the visible ...

The big bang and the creation of hydrogen and helium | Atom

The big bang and the creation of hydrogen and helium | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 3'01''

George Gamow believed that helium existed in the universe before the sun and the stars were formed.

02: Marie Curie's Radium | The Six Experiments That Changed The World

02: Marie Curie's Radium | The Six Experiments That Changed The World

Channel 4 | 2000 | 24'26''

From Galileo to Einstein, from Faraday to Mendel: modern scientists try to recreate the seminal experim...

03: Off the Scale | Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds

03: Off the Scale | Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds

BBC HD | 2010 | 59'21''

Richard Hammond explores the miniature universe around us, from microscopic changes to ice crystals that can trigger a...

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'09''

Jim Al-Khalili explores how Ernest Rutherford's work on the atom revealed what electricity was on ...

Radioactive particle clean up mission | Bang Goes the Theory

Radioactive particle clean up mission | Bang Goes the Theory

BBC One | 2011 | 3'24''

Following a leak of thousands of radioactive particles in the 60's, a team at Dounreay are attempting to find an...

Radioactivity | Curriculum Bites

Radioactivity | Curriculum Bites

CBBC | 2003 | 6'33''

Schools science programme where topics in the double science curriculum are broken down into small chunks.

The discovery of nuclear fission | Atom

The discovery of nuclear fission | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 5'05''

Scientists in the 1930's toyed with neutrons colliding with nucleai and were excited at the thought that such experiments could creat...

The strong nuclear force | Atom

The strong nuclear force | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 2'57''

Like a magnet, protons will repel each other, however, as soon as they are close enough they will stick together.

Types of nuclear radiation | Short Circuit

Types of nuclear radiation | Short Circuit

BBC Two | 2008 | 1'26''

An explanation of alpha, beta and gamma radiation.

02: What is the World Made Of? | The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion

02: What is the World Made Of? | The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion

BBC Two | 2010 | 58'35''

Michael Mosley explores how history shaped science. Here, he looks at how atomic theories and...

Albert Einstein | Icons

Albert Einstein | Icons

BBC Two | 2019 | 12'45''

Einstein was a physicist who rewrote the rules of the universe. Hounded from his native Germany by the Nazis and fearful of what they were capable of...

An Alpha, Beta and Gamma of Radioactivity | Short Circuit

An Alpha, Beta and Gamma of Radioactivity | Short Circuit

BBC Two | 1998 | 24'14''

Bringing chemistry, physics and biology to life using real-life examples, 3D graphics and practical experiments.

Chemical weapons | Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility

Chemical weapons | Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility

BBC Four | 2016 | 1'53''

Introducing the idea of chemical and biological weapons, leading onto pathogens.

Discovery of the Neutron | Atom

Discovery of the Neutron | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 1'50''

Spec references J248: C1.2d, C1.2e J250: C1.2d, C1.2e. Professor Jim Al-Khalili explains how James Chadwick discovered the neutron. This solv...

Half-life | Short Circuit

Half-life | Short Circuit

BBC Two | 2009 | 58''

Spec references J249: P6.1j, P6.2b J250: P4.3j. Explanation and animation - Nuclear decay is random. Half-life.

Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility

Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility

BBC Four | 2016 | 59'00''

Michael Mosley investigates Porton Down, Britain's most secretive and controversial military research base. He...

Lab demonstration of alpha beta gamma penetration properties. | Short Circuit

Lab demonstration of alpha beta gamma penetration properties. | Short Circuit

BBC Two | 2009 | 56''

Spec references J249: P6.1l J250: P4.3l. Laboratory demonstration of the penetration propertie...

More from Jim Al-Khalili

Nylon | Chemistry: A Volatile History

Nylon | Chemistry: A Volatile History

BBC Four | 2010 | 2'07''

Jim Al-Khalili reveals the breakthroughs which harnessed elements' ability to release vast power, showing how scientists are trying to ...

Einstein and the beetle | Gravity and Me: The Force that Shapes our Lives

Einstein and the beetle | Gravity and Me: The Force that Shapes our Lives

BBC Four | 2017 | 1'20''

Professor Jim Al-Khalili explains Einstein's analogy of gravity that he told his son to explain his...

Prof Jim Al Khalili goes inside Calder Hall for his first look inside the core of a nuclear reactor | Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield

Prof Jim Al Khalili goes inside Calder Hall for his first look inside the core of a nuclear reactor | Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield

BBC Four | 2015 | 3'20''

Nuclear physicist Professo...

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on teenage brains | The Life Scientific

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on teenage brains | The Life Scientific

BBC Radio 4 | 2015 | 26'54''

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her research on the developing teenage brain.

The race to prove Maxwell's theory | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

The race to prove Maxwell's theory | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 5'11''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how physics professor Oliver Lodge proved Maxwell's theory that electrom...

Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe? | Horizon

Fukushima: Is Nuclear Power Safe? | Horizon

BBC Two | 2011 | 57'29''

Six months after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to discover whether nu...

Arabic, the language of God | Science and Islam

Arabic, the language of God | Science and Islam

BBC Four | 2009 | 5'36''

Jim Al-Khalili looks at how Islamic caliphs encouraged scientific research and made Arabic the official language of their vas...

Introduction to Electronic Structure and Chemical Properties | Atom

Introduction to Electronic Structure and Chemical Properties | Atom

BBC Four | 2007 | 1'21''

Spec references J248: C2.2h J250: C2.2h. Professor Jim Al-Khalili explains how chemical properties are de...

Electrolysis - Discovery of Potassium | Curriculum Bites

Electrolysis - Discovery of Potassium | Curriculum Bites

CBBC | 2003 | 3'06''

Spec references J248: C3.4b J250: C3.4b. Professor Jim Al-Khalili recreates the electrolysis experiment that lead to...