1. The atom has a small, dense, positively charged nucleus: The experiment showed that most alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil, indicating that atoms are mostly empty space. However, a small number of particles were deflected at large angles, suggesting the presence of a small, dense, positively charged region within the atom. This region became known as the nucleus.
2. The nucleus contains most of the atom's mass: The deflection of some alpha particles also indicated that the nucleus contained most of the atom's mass. This is because the alpha particles, which are positively charged, were repelled by the positively charged nucleus. The greater the deflection, the stronger the repulsion, and the greater the mass concentrated in the nucleus.
