<P> The atomic nucleus is the small , dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom , discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based on the 1909 Geiger -- Marsden gold foil experiment . After the discovery of the neutron in 1932 , models for a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons were quickly developed by Dmitri Ivanenko and Werner Heisenberg . Almost all of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus , with a very small contribution from the electron cloud . Protons and neutrons are bound together to form a nucleus by the nuclear force . </P>
<P> The atomic nucleus is the small , dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom , discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based on the 1909 Geiger -- Marsden gold foil experiment . After the discovery of the neutron in 1932 , models for a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons were quickly developed by Dmitri Ivanenko and Werner Heisenberg . Almost all of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus , with a very small contribution from the electron cloud . Protons and neutrons are bound together to form a nucleus by the nuclear force . </P>
who discovered protons and neutrons in the nucleus
who discovered protons and neutrons in the nucleus
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford