What are the limitations of Rutherford’s model of the atom?
The Rutherford model suffers from the following drawbacks :
(i) An electron revolving around the nucleus gets accelerated towards the nucleus. An accelerating charged particle must emit radiation, and lose energy. Thus, the electrons in an atom must continuously emit radiation and lose energy. Because of this loss of energy, the electron would slow down, and will not be able to withstand the attraction of the nucleus. As a result, the electron should follow a spiral path, and ultimately fall into the nucleus (see figure).
If it happens, then the atom should collapse in about 10-8 second. But, this does not happen atoms are stable. This indicates that there is something wrong in Rutherford’s nuclear model of atom.
(ii) Rutherford’s model of atom does not say anything about the arrangement of electrons in an atom.