What proof did Rutherford have that showed that the positive charge of an atom was in the middle?
1 Answer
He had no proof...he had evidence and supposition...
Explanation:
Rutherford fired heavy
And as a matter of fact his assignment of a positively charged nucleus is problematic for chemists. There are many problems in quantum chemistry where you get the right answer but the wrong sign simply because you counted odd instead of even when you count up the electrons.
The point is that electrons and massive, charged nuclear particles (i.e. nuclear protons) have OPPOSITE electric charges; it would have made much more sense to assign a positive charge to electrons, and a negative charge to nuclear protons....