Meitner dismissed the possibility that Hahn's identification of barium was in error; her faith in Hahn's expertise as a chemist was absolute. Meitner and Frisch then considered how it could be possible. Previous attempts at atom splitting had never had enough energy to chip away more than individual protons or alpha particles, but a barium nucleus was much larger. They considered the liquid-drop model of the nucleus that had been proposed by George Gamow : perhaps it was possible for a drop to become elongated and then divide itself in two.