Editing Rutherford scattering experiments (section)

=== Rutherford's ''Structure of the Atom'' paper (1911) {{anchor|Rutherford's Structure of the Atom paper}} ===
{{See also| #Rutherford scattering}}
Considering the results of these experiments, Rutherford published a landmark paper in 1911 titled "The Scattering of α and β Particles by Matter and the Structure of the Atom" wherein he showed that single scattering from a very small and intense electric charge predicts primarily small-angle scattering with small but measurable amounts of backscattering.<ref name=GilibertiLovisetti/>{{rp|252}}<ref name="Rutherford 1911"/> For the purpose of his mathematical calculations he assumed this central charge was positive, but he admitted he could not prove this and that he had to wait for other experiments to develop his theory.<ref name="Rutherford 1911"/>{{rp|688}}

Rutherford developed a mathematical equation that modelled how the foil should scatter the alpha particles if all the positive charge and most of the atomic mass was concentrated in a point at the centre of an atom.
From the scattering data, Rutherford estimated the central charge ''q<sub>n</sub>'' to be about +100 units.<ref name=Rutherford1911/>

Rutherford's paper does not discuss any electron arrangement beyond discussions on the scattering from Thomson's plum pudding model and Nagaoka's Saturnian model.<ref name=Heilbron1968/>{{rp|303}} He shows that the scattering results predicted by Thomson's model are also explained by single scattering, but that Thomson's model does not explain large angle scattering. He says that Nagaoka's model, having a compact charge, would agree with the scattering data. The Saturnian model had previously been rejected on other grounds. The so-called [[Rutherford model]] of the atom with orbiting electrons was not proposed by Rutherford in the 1911 paper.<ref name=Heilbron1968/>{{rp|304}}