Rutherford's Previous Model

Rutherford noticed that alpha particles would not behave in accordance to the plum pudding model when fired at a piece of gold medal.

Rutherford noticed they didn't act the same as J.J. Thompson said they would. When Rutherford performed an experiment similar to Thompson's, majority of the particles were not deflected and passed through. According to Rutherford, it was like firing a cannonball onto tissue paper and seeing it bounce against the paper right back at him on several occasions.