Rutherford investigated atoms by firing small, positively charged particles at a thin sheet of gold foil. what results would he expect to see if he believed thomson’s model of the atom to be correct? all of the particles would bounce back from the front of the foil because the atom was a dense, solid ball of matter. most of the particles would pass straight through the foil because the atom was mostly the empty space in the electron cloud. most of the particles would pass through at a small angle because the atom is mostly empty space, but with a massive, dense, positively charged center. most of the particles would pass through with a few moving at small angles because the atom was a low-density, positive material with electrons in it.