If you throw a tennis ball at the wall, you expect it to bounce back (and you also expect it to obey the law of reflection, (𝜃_𝑖 = 𝜃_𝑟). What happens if you throw alpha particles at a thin gold foil?*
2 points
A) The particles burn a hole right through the foil and continue to travel in a straight line.
B) The particles bounce off the foil like tiny little tennis balls, obeying the law of reflection.
C) The particles pass right through the foil as if it wasn’t there at all. The emerge on the other side of the undamaged gold foil like nothing happened.
D) They disappear mysteriously. It’s the one and only known example of violating the laws of matter and energy conservation.