He carried out experiments in the early 1900s in which various elements were irradiated with α-particles.
In 1909, he reported his experimental results, showing that the hydrogen nucleus is present in other nuclei a result usually described as the discovery of the proton.
Rutherford characterizes a positive particle in the nucleus about 1836 times as greater than the mass of electron. Equipment is required to accelerate protons because of their mass.
Rutherford named the hydrogen nucleus the proton, after the neuter singular of the Greek word for ‘first’.
The proton carries a 1+chanrge, equal in size but opposite in sign to the negative charge of the electron.
Rutherford was also the first to conceptualize the possible existence of the neutron.
In 1920, Rutherford proposed that the disparity found between the atomic number of an atom and its atomic mass could be explained by the existence of a neutrality charged particle within the atomic nucleus.
Discovery of Proton by Ernest Rutherford
