Suppose you are given a chance to repeat the alpha-particle scattering experiment using a thin sheet of solid hydrogen in place of the gold foil. (Hydrogen is a solid at temperatures below 14 K.) What results do you expect?

We know that the mass of the incident alpha particle (6.64 × 10-27kg) is more than the mass of hydrogen (1.67 × 10-27Kg). Hence, the target nucleus is lighter, from which we can conclude that the alpha particle would not rebound, implying the fact that solid hydrogen isn’t a suitable replacement for gold foil for the alpha particle scattering experiment.