"Lord Rutherford" redirects here. Not to be confused with Lord Rutherfurd or Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot.
The Right Honourable
The Lord Rutherford of Nelson
OM PRS HonFRSE
Rutherford c. 1920s
Born
Ernest Rutherford
(1871-08-30)30 August 1871
Brightwater, Nelson Province, Colony of New Zealand
Died
19 October 1937(1937-10-19) (aged 66)
Cambridge, England
Resting place
Westminster Abbey
Alma mater
University of New Zealand
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Known for
See list
Discovery of alpha and beta radioactivity
Discovery of atomic nucleus
Discovery of proton
Discovery of radon
Artificial disintegration
Nuclear transmutation
Radiometric dating
Rutherford scattering
Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy
Rutherford gold foil experiment
Rutherford model
Rutherford (unit)
Spouse
Mary Georgina Newton
(m. 1900)
Children
1
Awards
See list
Rumford Medal (1904)
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1908)
Barnard Medal (1910)
Elliott Cresson Medal (1910)
Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (1911)
Matteucci Medal (1913)
Hector Memorial Medal (1916)
Dalton Medal (1919)
Copley Medal (1922)
Franklin Medal (1924)
Albert Medal (1928)
Faraday Medal (1930)
Wilhelm Exner Medal (1936)
Faraday Lectureship Prize (1936)
Scientific career
Fields
Radioactivity
atomic physics
nuclear physics
Institutions
McGill University
University of Manchester
University of Cambridge
Academic advisors
Alexander Bickerton
J. J. Thomson[1]
Doctoral students
See list
Nazir Ahmed[2]
Norman Alexander
Edward Victor Appleton
Robert William Boyle
James Chadwick
Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry[3][4]
Norman Feather
Alexander McAulay
Cecil Powell
Henry DeWolf Smyth
Ernest Walton
Evan James Williams
C. E. Wynn-Williams
Yulii Borisovich Khariton
Zhang Wenyu[5][6]
Other notable students
See list
Edward Andrade
Patrick Blackett
Niels Bohr
Bertram Boltwood
Harriet Brooks
Teddy Bullard
John Cockcroft
Charles Galton Darwin
Charles Drummond Ellis
Kazimierz Fajans
Thomas Gaskell
Hans Geiger
Otto Hahn
Douglas Hartree
Pyotr Kapitsa
Daulat Singh Kothari
George Laurence
Iven Mackay
Ernest Marsden
Mark Oliphant
Thomas Royds
Frederick Soddy
President of the Royal Society
In office 1925–1930
Preceded by
Charles Scott Sherrington
Succeeded by
Frederick Gowland Hopkins
Signature
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM, PRS, HonFRSE[7] (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. Rutherford has been described as "the father of nuclear physics",[8] and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday".[9] In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances." He was the first Oceanian Nobel laureate, and the first to perform the awarded work in Canada.
Rutherford's discoveries include the concept of radioactive half-life, the radioactive element radon, and the differentiation and naming of alpha and beta radiation. Together with Thomas Royds, Rutherford is credited with proving that alpha radiation is composed of helium nuclei.[10][11] In 1911, he theorized that atoms have their charge concentrated in a very small nucleus.[12] This was done through his discovery and interpretation of Rutherford scattering during the gold foil experiment performed by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, resulting in his conception of the Rutherford model of the atom. In 1917, he performed the first artificially-induced nuclear reaction by conducting experiments where nitrogen nuclei were bombarded with alpha particles. As a result, he discovered the emission of a subatomic particle which he initially called the "hydrogen atom", but later (more accurately) named the proton.[13][14] He is also credited with developing the atomic numbering system alongside Henry Moseley. His other achievements include advancing the fields of radio communications and ultrasound technology.
Rutherford became Director of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in 1919. Under his leadership, the neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932. In the same year, the first controlled experiment to split the nucleus was performed by John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, working under his direction. In honour of his scientific advancements, Rutherford was recognised as a baron of the United Kingdom. After his death in 1937, he was buried in Westminster Abbey near Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. The chemical element rutherfordium (104Rf) was named after him in 1997.
^
"Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
^"University of the Punjab - Science". pu.edu.pk. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023. The expedition included Professor James Martin Benade (Professor of Physics at Forman Christian College Lahore) and Dr. Nazir Ahmad (a PhD student of Ernest Rutherford at Cambridge who later on became the First Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956).
^Hameed, A. Khan; Qurashi, M. M.; Hussain, E. T.; Hayee, M. I., eds. (2006). "Physics in Developing Countries – Past, Present & Future" (PDF). Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South. COMSATS Series of Publications on Science and Technology. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
^Government College University, Lahore (GCU) (4 September 2009). "Dr. Rafi Muhammad Chaudhri Chair in Physics – About the Chair". Chief Librarian GC University Library, Lahore. GC University. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
^Grodzins, Lee (February 1994). "Obituaries: Zhang Wen-Yu". Physics Today. 47 (2): 116. doi:10.1063/1.2808417. Zhang studied under Ernest Rutherford in the mid-1930s, receiving his degree from Cambridge University in 1938.
^Zhang Wenyu (张文裕) (28 March 2018). 高能实验物理学家张文裕:回忆导师卢瑟福生命中的最后两年. thepaper.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^Eve, A. S.; Chadwick, J. (1938). "Lord Rutherford 1871–1937". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 2 (6): 394. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1938.0025.
^Cite error: The named reference Father was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Badash, Lawrence. "Ernest Rutherford | Accomplishments, Atomic Theory, & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^Campbell, John. "Rutherford – A Brief Biography". Rutherford.org.nz. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
^Rutherford, E.; Royds, T. (1908). "Spectrum of the radium emanation". Philosophical Magazine. Series 6. 16 (92): 313. doi:10.1080/14786440808636511. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
^Longair, M. S. (2003). Theoretical concepts in physics: an alternative view of theoretical reasoning in physics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 377–378. ISBN 978-0-521-52878-8. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
^Rutherford, E. (1919). "Collision of α particles with light atoms. IV. An anomalous effect in nitrogen". The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science. Series 6. 37 (222): 581–587. doi:10.1080/14786440608635919. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
^Rutherford, E. (1920). "Bakerian Lecture. Nuclear Constitution of Atoms". Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 97 (686): 374–400. Bibcode:1920RSPSA..97..374R. doi:10.1098/rspa.1920.0040.
ErnestRutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM, PRS, HonFRSE (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering...
performed between 1906 and 1913 by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden under the direction of ErnestRutherford at the Physical Laboratories of the University...
The Rutherford model was devised by ErnestRutherford to describe an atom. Rutherford directed the Geiger–Marsden experiment in 1909, which suggested...
physics, Rutherford scattering is the elastic scattering of charged particles by the Coulomb interaction. It is a physical phenomenon explained by Ernest Rutherford...
physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom, presented by Niels Bohr and ErnestRutherford in 1913. It consists of...
internationally for his contributions to science while working under ErnestRutherford, which led to the discovery of new theories on the structure of the...
student at Trinity College, Cambridge, under the supervision of Sir ErnestRutherford, Director of Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory. At the time...
students attracted by this change was future Cavendish Professor ErnestRutherford. Whilst Thomson was Cavendish Professor, he discovered the electron...
between their earlier writing and this new series. "Rutherford" came from the Nobel Laureate ErnestRutherford, and Alex was chosen as a name that could be male...
physics. The ErnestRutherford Medal and Prize, awarded biennially in even-numbered years, was instituted in 1966, replacing the Rutherford Memorial Lecture...
Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) is an analytical technique used in materials science. Sometimes referred to as high-energy ion scattering...
analysis by Rutherford published May 1911, the key preemptive experiment was performed during 1909, at the University of Manchester. ErnestRutherford's assistant...
the name was given to the hydrogen nucleus by ErnestRutherford in 1920. In previous years, Rutherford had discovered that the hydrogen nucleus (known...
property of the corpuscles." Heilbron (2003). ErnestRutherford and the Explosion of Atoms, pp. 64–68 "Rutherford model | Definition & Facts". Encyclopedia...
surname or given name ErnestRutherford (1871–1937), 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, known as the father of nuclear physics Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893)...
protons and neutrons at the center of an atom, discovered in 1911 by ErnestRutherford based on the 1909 Geiger–Marsden gold foil experiment. After the discovery...
Artificial disintegration is the term coined by ErnestRutherford for the process by which an atomic nucleus is broken down by bombarding it with high...
The ErnestRutherford memorial includes a statue of the New Zealand scientist ErnestRutherford, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. It depicts...
of the atomic nucleus. Between 1908 and 1913, ErnestRutherford and his colleagues Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden performed a series of experiments in...
by particle accelerators. The term "alpha particle" was coined by ErnestRutherford in reporting his studies of the properties of Uranium radiation. The...
of Berlin ErnestRutherford (1871–1937), New Zealand chemist and nuclear physicist Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922), Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest de Silva...
19053220607. Lederman, Leon (1993). The God Particle. ISBN 9780385312110. Rutherford, Sir Ernest (1920). "The Stability of Atoms". Proceedings of the Physical Society...
radiation in 1900 while studying radiation emitted by radium. In 1903, ErnestRutherford named this radiation gamma rays based on their relatively strong penetration...
(element 71) onward (hafnium was not known at this time). In 1911, ErnestRutherford gave a model of the atom in which a central nucleus held most of the...
atomic recoil, and transmutation of elements in radioactive decay. ErnestRutherford, who guided her graduate work, regarded her as comparable to Marie...
atoms is energy carried by atoms. The term originated in 1903 when ErnestRutherford began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy. H. G. Wells popularized...
he studied under ErnestRutherford (known as the "father of nuclear physics"). At Manchester, he continued to study under Rutherford until he was awarded...