Rutherford passed beams of alpha particles through a thin gold foil and noted how the alpha particles scattered from the foil.

Observations of Rutherford's alpha ray scattering experiment:

1. Most of the α-particles passed straight through the gold foil without any deviation.

2. Some of the α-particles were deflected by the foil by some angles.

3. Interestingly one out of every 12,000 alpha particles appeared to rebound.

Conclusion of Rutherford's scattering experiment:

1. Most of the space inside the atom is empty because most of the α-particles passed through the gold foil without getting deflected.

2. Very few particles were deflected from their path, indicating that the positive charge of the atom occupies very little space.

3. A very small fraction of α-particles were deflected by very large angles, indicating that all the positive charge and mass of the gold atom were concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.