Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford was born on 30 August 1871 in Spring Grove (now known as Brightwater), near Nelson, New Zealand to a farmer father, James Rutherford and mother Martha Thompson (whose origin was Hornchurch, Essex, England).

 

Ernest was mistakenly registered (during his birth) as Earnest. He went to Havelock School as a kid from where he enrolled himself to Nelson College. He strived hard to win a scholarship for studying at Canterbury College which was under University of New Zealand. At Canterbury Ernest Rutherford became popular by becoming president of the debating society and involving himself in various other activities.

 

Rutherford pursued his higher studies at Canterbury and received his BA, MA and BSc degrees before continuing with his rigorous two year research in electrical technology. In 1895 he went to England to pursue his postgraduate degree at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, which continued from 1895–1898. He achieved a feat (and briefly held a record) for discovering the distance over which electromagnetic waves could be detected.

 

It was in 1898 when Rutherford was made to hold the chair of Macdonald Professor of physics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, succeeding Hugh Longbourne Callendar. It was here Rutherford gained all his researching highs. His works in McGill won him his Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.

 

Rutherford was deeply immersed in his research and investigation of radioactivity. It was while doing this that he coined the terms alpha and beta in 1899. These were radiation emitting rays which were described by Rutherford as two distinct (easily differentiable) emissions by thorium and uranium. Rutherford clearly explained how the rays could be differentiated on the basis of their penetrating power.

 

In 1900 he received his DSc from the University of New Zealand. During the period 1900 to 1903 Rutherford had a young and new researcher joining him at McGill, Frederick Soddy with whom Rutherford collaborated in a research project which was on transmutation of elements. Rutherford found and rightly explained that radioactivity resulted from spontaneous disintegration of atoms. Rutherford minutely observed and recorded that a sample of radioactive material took same time for half the sample to decay which he later called as ‘half-life’. Rutherford’s discovery was further made and developed into a practical application that was based on constant rate of decay as a clock, which was used to determine the age of the Earth, which was found to be much older than the previously held belief of most scientists.

 

In 1903 Rutherford found that the radiation (already discovered) emitted by radium which was not named (discovered by French chemist Paul Villard in 1900) had a point of difference (from alpha and beta rays) that was not yet represented. He also found that the distinct ray had a very high penetrating power so Rutherford did not waste much time to name this third type of radiation as gamma ray.

 

In 1907 Rutherford was appointed to the chair of physics at the University of Manchester. While staying in Manchester, Rutherford continued his quest for alpha radiation. He collaborated with Hans Geiger and developed zinc sulphide scintillation screens and ionisation chambers that were developed to keep a count on alphas.
 

In 1907 Rutherford along with Thomas Royds carried out a chemical test that involved allowing of alpha rays to penetrate a very thin window into an evacuated tube. The rays invariably sparked the tube into discharge resulting in a spectrum that changed its nature as the alpha rays accumulated in the tube. Further the experiment showed how the clear spectrum of helium gas started to appear. This went on to prove that alphas were in the minimum possibilities ionised helium atoms or probably helium nuclei.

 

In 1909 Rutherford joined hands with Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden to carry out Geiger–Marsden experiment which was to find and demonstrate the actual nuclear nature of atoms. This experiment was carried out to get proper formulated results on alpha particles. Rutherford had asked Geiger and Marsden to find alpha particles having very high deflection angles (no predetermined types were expected as there were no previous theories of matter propounded earlier to this experiment). Deflections were found but were rare and had a smooth and a high-order function of the deflection angle. The interpretations and the result-achieving experiment inspired Rutherford to bring out his Rutherford model of the atom in 1911. This theory stated that even a small nucleus when positively charged had electrons orbiting around it.

 

In 1919 Rutherford took over the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge where he transmuted one element into another (for the first time ever by anyone) converting nitrogen into oxygen through the nuclear reaction. Rutherford carried out his experiment with Niels Bohr and made a theory about the existence of neutrons and also the fact that they could compensate for the repelling effect of the positive charges of protons by initiating an attractive nuclear force which resulted the nuclei from not breaking apart.

 

In 1932 Rutherford’s neutron theory was proved by James Chadwick who went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery in 1935.

 

In 1900 Rutherford married Mary Georgina Newton. Together they had a daughter Eileen Mary.

 

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for making path breaking discoveries and successful investigations into the process of elements’ disintegration and the related chemistry of radioactive substances. Rutherford was made the Knight in 1914. In 1916 Rutherford received the Hector Memorial Medal award. In 1919 Rutherford returned to Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge where he was made the Director. While being the Director at Cavendish, Rutherford supervised several researchers, the notable ones being James Chadwick, John Douglas Cockcroft, Edward Victor Appleton and Thomas Sinton Walton all of whom won Nobel Prizes for their atomic reactions, neutron discoveries, demonstrations and chemical experiments on articles and ionospheres. In 1925 Rutherford was honoured with the Order of Merit. In 1931 Rutherford was honoured with the title of Baron Rutherford of Nelson, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridge.

 

Even after his death, Rutherford has been held in high honour by keeping him in a tomb in Westminster Abbey, alongside J. J. Thomson, and near Sir Isaac Newton.

 

Ernest Rutherford suffered from umbilical hernia and was to be operated by a titled doctor as per the British protocol (Rutherford was a peer of the British order of merit). The delays in operation resulted in the sudden death of Rutherford at the hospital on 19 October 1937.

1871 – He was born on 30 August

1895 - He went to England to pursue his postgraduate degree at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge

1895–1898 – While continuing with his post graduation he achieved a feat (and briefly held a record) for discovering the distance over which electromagnetic waves could be detected

1898 - Rutherford was made to hold the chair of Macdonald Professor of physics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada

1900 - He received his DSc from the University of New Zealand

1900 - Rutherford married Mary Georgina Newton

1900 to 1903 - Rutherford had a young and new researcher joining him at McGill, Frederick Soddy with whom Rutherford collaborated in a research project which was on transmutation of elements

1903 - Rutherford found that the radiation (already discovered) emitted by radium which was not named (discovered by French chemist Paul Villard in 1900) had a point of difference (from alpha and beta rays) that was not yet represented. He also found that the distinct ray had a very high penetrating power so Rutherford did not waste much time to name this third type of radiation as gamma ray

1907 Rutherford was appointed to the chair of physics at the University of Manchester

1907 - Rutherford along with Thomas Royds carried out a chemical test that involved allowing of alpha rays to penetrate a very thin window into an evacuated tube

1908 – He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

1909 - Rutherford joined hands with Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden to carry out Geiger–Marsden experiment which was to find and demonstrate the actual nuclear nature of atoms

1911 – Rutherford’s ‘Rutherford model’ of the atom

1914 - Rutherford was made the Knight

1916 - Rutherford received the Hector Memorial Medal award

1919 - Rutherford returned to Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge as the Director

1919 - Rutherford took over the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge where he transmuted one element into another (for the first time ever by anyone) converting nitrogen into oxygen through the nuclear reaction

1925 - Rutherford was honoured with the Order of Merit.

1931 - Rutherford was honoured with the title of Baron Rutherford of Nelson, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridge

1932 - Rutherford’s neutron theory was proved by James Chadwick who went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery in 1935

1937 – He died on 19 October