(N/A) Rutherford and his students (Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden) conducted the $\alpha$-particle scattering experiment.
In this experiment,they bombarded $\alpha$-particles onto a very thin gold foil.
High-energy $\alpha$-particles from a radioactive source were directed at a thin gold foil (thickness $\sim 100 \ nm$).
$A$ fluorescent zinc sulphide screen was kept around the thin gold foil. When $\alpha$-particles struck this screen,they produced a fluorescence effect (flashes of light).
Based on this,Rutherford proposed his nuclear model:
$1$. Most of the space in an atom is empty.
$2$. All the positive charge and most of the mass of the atom are concentrated in a very small region called the nucleus.
$3$. The electrons revolve around the nucleus in circular paths called orbits.