Rutherford Ernest (years of life: 1871-30-08 - 1937-19-10) - English physicist, creator of the planetary model of the atom, founder of nuclear physics. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and from 1925 to 1930 - and its president. This man is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received in 1908.
The future scientist was born in the family of James Rutherford, a wheelwright, and Martha Thompson, a teacher. In addition to him, the family had 5 daughters and 6 sons.
Training and first awards
Before the family moved from New Zealand's South Island to the North Island in 1889, Rutherford Ernest studied in Christchurch, at Canterbury College. Already at this time, the brilliant abilities of the future scientist were revealed. After graduating from the 4th year, Ernest was awarded for the best work in the field of mathematics, and also took 1st place in the master's exams in physics and mathematics.
Invention of the magnetic detector
Becoming a master of arts, Rutherford did notleft college. He plunged into independent scientific work on the magnetization of iron. He developed and manufactured a special device - a magnetic detector, which became one of the world's first receivers of electromagnetic waves, as well as Rutherford's "entrance ticket" to great science. An important change soon took place in his life.
Rutherford goes to England
The most gifted young subjects of the English crown from New Zealand were given a scholarship to them every two years. The World Exhibition of 1851, which made it possible to go to England to study the sciences. In 1895, it was decided that two New Zealanders were worthy of such an honor - the physicist Rutherford and the chemist Maclaurin. However, there was only one place, and Ernest's hopes were dashed. Fortunately, Maclaurin was forced to abandon this trip for family reasons, and Rutherford Ernest arrived in England in the autumn of 1895. Here he began work at the University of Cambridge (at the Cavendish Laboratory) and became the first doctoral student of J. Thomson, its director (pictured below).
Study of Becquerel rays
Thomson by that time was already a well-known scientist, one of the members of the Royal Society of London, respected by all. He quickly appreciated Rutherford's abilities and attracted him to work on the study of the ionization of gases under the influence of X-rays, which he carried out. However, already in 1898, in the summer, Ernest takes his first steps in another area of research. He was interested in "becquerel rays". Emission of uranium s alt, openBecquerel, a French physicist, later became known as radioactive. The French scientist, as well as the Curies, were actively engaged in his research. In 1898 Rutherford Ernest joined the work. This scientist discovered that these beams include streams of helium nuclei, positively charged (alpha particles), as well as streams of electrons (beta particles).
Further study of uranium rays
The work of the Curies was presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences on July 18, 1898, which aroused great interest of Rutherford. In it, the authors pointed out that in addition to uranium, there are other radioactive (this term was used for the first time just then) elements. Rutherford later introduced the concept of half-life - one of the main distinguishing features of these elements.
Ernest in December 1897 extended the exhibition scholarship. The scientist got the opportunity to further study the rays of uranium. However, in April 1898, a professorship at the local McGill University became vacant in Montreal, and Ernest decided to go to Canada. The time for apprenticeship has passed. It was clear to everyone that Rutherford was ready to work on his own.
Moving to Canada and new job
In the autumn of 1898, he moved to Canada. At first, Rutherford's teaching was not very successful: the students did not like the lectures, which the young professor, who had not yet learned to fully feel the audience, oversaturated with details. There were also some difficulties in scientific work due to the fact that the arrival of the radioactive preparations ordered by Rutherford was delayed. However, allthe roughness soon smoothed out, and Ernest began a streak of good luck and success. However, it is hardly appropriate to talk about successes: everything was achieved by hard work, in which his new friends and like-minded people were involved.
Discovery of the law of radioactive transformations
Around Rutherford already then formed an atmosphere of creative enthusiasm and passion. The work was joyful and intense, it led to great success. Rutherford discovered the emanation of thorium in 1899. Together with Soddy in 1902-1903, he already arrived at a general law applicable to all radioactive transformations. It should be said a little more about this important scientific event.
Scientists around the world firmly learned at that time that it was impossible to turn one chemical element into another, so the dreams of alchemists to extract gold from lead should be buried forever. And then a work appeared in which it was argued that during radioactive decays, the transformations of elements not only occur, but they can neither be slowed down nor stopped. Moreover, the laws of these transformations were formulated. Today we understand that it is the charge of the nucleus that determines the chemical properties of the element and its position in the periodic system of Mendeleev. When the charge of the nucleus decreases by two units, which occurs during alpha decay, it "moves" up 2 cells in the periodic table. It shifts one cell down during electronic beta decay, and one cell up during positron decay. Despite the obviousness of this law and its apparent simplicity, this discovery was one of the most important events in science at the beginning of the 20th century.century.
Marriage to Mary Georgina Newton, birth of a daughter
At the same time, an important event occurred in Ernest's personal life. 5 years after the engagement with Mary Georgina Newton, the scientist Ernest Rutherford married her, whose biography by this time had already been marked by significant achievements. This girl was the daughter of the landlady of the boarding house in Christchurch where he once lived. In 1901, on March 30, the only daughter in the Rutherford family was born. This event almost coincided in time with the birth of a new chapter in physical science - nuclear physics. And after 2 years, Rutherford became a member of the Royal Society of London.
Rutherford's books, experiments on translucent foil with alpha particles
Ernest created 2 books in which he summarized the results of his scientific searches and achievements. The first was published under the title "Radioactivity" in 1904. "Radioactive transformations" appeared a year later. The author of these books began new research at this time. He realized that it was from the atoms that radioactive radiation emanated, but the place of its occurrence remained absolutely unclear. It was necessary to study the device of the kernel. And then Ernest turned to the technique of transillumination with alpha particles, with which he began his work with Thomson. The experiments studied how the flow of these particles passes through thin sheets of foil.
Thomson's first model of the atom
The first model of the atom was proposed when it became known that electrons have a negative charge. However, they enter into atoms,are generally electrically neutral. So there must be something in its composition that carries a positive charge. To solve this problem, Thomson proposed the following model: an atom is something like a drop, positively charged, with a radius of one hundred millionth of a centimeter. Inside it are tiny electrons with a negative charge. Under the influence of Coulomb forces, they tend to take a position in the very center of the atom, but if something unbalances them, they oscillate, accompanied by radiation. This model explained the existence of emission spectra, a fact known at the time. It has already become clear from experiments that in solids the distances between atoms are approximately the same as their sizes. It seemed obvious, therefore, that alpha particles could not fly through a foil, just as a stone could not fly through a forest where the trees grew almost close to each other. However, the very first experiments made by Rutherford convinced that this was not so. Most of the alpha particles, almost without deflection, penetrated the foil, and only a few exhibited deflection, sometimes significant. Ernest Rutherford was very interested in this. Interesting facts required further study.
Rutherford planetary model
And then Rutherford's intuition and the ability of this scientist to understand the language of nature again appeared. Ernest resolutely rejected Thomson's model of the atom. Rutherford's experiments led to the fact that he put forward his own, called the planetary. According to her, in the centerof an atom is the nucleus, in which the entire mass of a given atom is concentrated, despite its rather small size. And around the nucleus, like planets revolving around the sun, electrons move. Their masses are substantially smaller than those of alpha particles, and that is why the latter practically do not deviate when they penetrate electron clouds. And only when an alpha particle flies close to a positively charged nucleus, the Coulomb repulsive force can sharply bend the trajectory of its movement. This is Rutherford's theory. It was certainly a great discovery.
The laws of electrodynamics and the planetary model
Rutherford's experience was enough to convince many scientists of the existence of a planetary model. However, it turned out that it is not so unambiguous. Rutherford's formula, which he derived based on this model, was consistent with the data obtained during the experiment. However, she disproved the laws of electrodynamics!
These laws, which were established mainly by the works of Maxwell and Faraday, state that a charge moving at an accelerated rate radiates electromagnetic waves and loses energy because of this. In Rutherford's atom, the electron moves in the Coulomb field of the nucleus at an accelerated rate and, according to Maxwell's theory, it must lose all its energy in a ten-millionth of a second, and then fall onto the nucleus. However, this did not happen. Consequently, Rutherford's formula refuted Maxwell's theory. Ernest knew this when it was time to return to England in 1907.
Move to Manchester and receive the Nobel Prize
Ernest's work in McGillUniversity contributed to the fact that he became very famous. Rutherford began to vied with invitations to scientific centers in different countries. The scientist in the spring of 1907 decided to leave Canada and arrived in Manchester, at the University of Victoria, where he continued his research. Together with H. Geiger, he created in 1908 an alpha particle counter - a new device that played an important role in finding out that alpha particles are helium atoms, doubly ionized. Rutherford Ernest, whose discoveries were of great importance, received the Nobel Prize in 1908 (in chemistry, not in physics!).
Cooperation with Niels Bohr
Meanwhile, the planetary pattern occupied his mind more and more. And in March 1912, Rutherford began to cooperate and be friends with Niels Bohr. The greatest merit of Bohr (his photo is presented below) was that he introduced fundamentally new features into the planetary model - the idea of quanta.
He put forward "postulates" that seemed internally contradictory at first glance. According to him, the atom has orbits. An electron, moving along them, does not radiate, contrary to the laws of electrodynamics, although it has acceleration. This scientist pointed out a rule by which these orbits can be found. He found out that radiation quanta appear only when an electron moves from orbit to orbit. The Rutherford-Bohr model of the atom solved many problems, and also became a breakthrough into the world of new ideas. Its discovery led to a radical revision of ideas about matter, about its movement.
Further extensive activities
In 1919Rutherford became a professor at the University of Cambridge and director of the Cavendish Laboratory. Dozens of scientists rightly considered him their teacher, including those who later won Nobel Prizes. These are J. Chadwick, G. Moseley, M. Oliphant, J. Cockcroft, O. Gan, V. Geytler, Yu. B. Khariton, P. L. Kapitsa, G. Gamov and others. The flow of honors and awards became more and more abundant. In 1914, Rutherford received the nobility. He became President of the British Association in 1923, and from 1925 to 1930 was President of the Royal Society. Ernest receives the title of baron in 1931 and becomes a lord. However, despite ever higher workloads, and not only scientific ones, he continues to attack the mysteries of the nucleus and the atom.
We offer you one interesting fact related to the scientific activities of Rutherford. It is known that Ernest Rutherford used the following criterion when choosing his employees: he gave the person who came to him for the first time a task, and if a new employee then asked what to do next, he was immediately fired.
The scientist has already begun experiments, which ended with the discovery of the artificial fission of atomic nuclei and the artificial transformation of chemical elements. In 1920, Rutherford predicted the existence of the deuteron and neutron, and in 1933 became the initiator and participant in an experiment to test the relationship between energy and mass in nuclear processes. In 1932, in April, he supported the idea of using proton accelerators in the study of nuclear reactions.
Death of Rutherford
The works of Ernest Rutherford and the work of his students, belonging to several generations, had a huge impact on science and technology, on the lives of millions of people. The great scientist, of course, could not help but think about whether this influence would be positive. However, he was an optimist, sacredly believed in science and in people. Ernest Rutherford, whose brief biography we have described, died in 1937, on October 19. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
