He concluded that all the positive charge and mass of the gold atom were concentrated in a very small volume within the atom.
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It suggested that the positive charge of the atom occupies very little space within the atom.
The fact that most α-particles passed through the foil without deflection indicated that most of the space inside the atom is empty.
Rutherford observed that most α-particles passed through the gold foil without significant deflection.
Rutherford concluded that atoms have a small, dense nucleus, based on the observation that most α-particles passed through the atom undeflected, but a small fraction were deflected at large angles.