Nuclear model of the atom. Photograph illustrating the nuclear model of the atom proposed by Lord Rutherford. Geiger and Marsden had discovered that when bombarding a thin platinum foil with alpha particles, about 1 in 8000 was deflected back from the foil. This excited Rutherford's interest, and in 1911 he deduced that the alpha particles were being deflected by a very small but massive nucleus at the centre of the atom. He further proposed that the nucleus help the positive charge of the atom, balanced by the negatively-charged electrons in orbit around the nucleus. This was the first correct view of atomic structure.