Materials Science/Analytical Techniques  From Wikibooks, open
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backscattering[edit]  Rutherford backscattering (or RBS, for
Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry) is an analytical
technique in materials science. It is named for Ernest
Rutherford who in 1911 first explained Geiger and Marsden's
experimental results for alpha particle scattering from a very
thin gold foil in a backward direction by using the Coulomb
electrostatic force between the positively charged nucleus and
the positively charged alpha particle. Rutherford first
correctly described the atom as a tiny positive nucleus
surrounded by negatively charged electrons (essentially the Bohr
atom) on the basis of this experiment. This contradicted J.J.
Thomson's "plum pudding model," the popularly accepted model of
the atom at that time. Rutherford famously expressed his
surprise at this experiment: "It was as though one fired a
bullet at a piece of paper, and it bounced back at you!"  A