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        "board": "Cambridge International",
        "code": "5054",
        "edition": "2026-2028",
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  "simulations": [
    {
      "id": "5054-2026-2028-alpha-scattering",
      "slug": "alpha-scattering",
      "title": "Alpha Scattering Lab",
      "topic": "Atomic structure",
      "description": "Fire alpha particles through two models of the atom. Compare their paths, collect scattering evidence, and discover what it reveals about the nucleus.",
      "duration": "10–15 min",
      "status": "pilot",
      "currentVersion": "1.0.0",
      "thumbnail": "web/assets/alpha-scattering.svg",
      "thumbnailAlt": "Schematic alpha paths through a diffuse atom and around a compact nucleus.",
      "tags": [
        "Rutherford",
        "gold foil",
        "nucleus",
        "plum pudding",
        "atomic model",
        "nuclear physics"
      ],
      "sections": [
        "5.1.1"
      ],
      "outcomes": [
        "5.1.1.2"
      ],
      "mappingReference": "Physim local curriculum map, 5054 2026–2028, topics/05.md; syllabus printed page 29. These reference labels are local map identifiers.",
      "learningFocus": "Use alpha scattering evidence to infer a small, massive, positively charged nucleus.",
      "investigations": [
        "Predict what most alpha particles should do in the plum pudding model, then fire one particle.",
        "Choose Compare both and run a random beam of at least 100 particles. Both models receive the same incident particles.",
        "Use Near-nucleus example to observe a large deflection. Explain why an aimed example cannot establish how frequent that event is.",
        "Compare the angle distributions. Explain what straight paths, small deflections and backscattering suggest about the atom."
      ],
      "takeaway": "Most alpha particles pass through with little deflection. Rare large deflections support a very small, concentrated, positively charged nucleus containing most of the atom’s mass.",
      "modelLimits": "This is a magnified two-dimensional teaching model. Close encounters are exaggerated, so percentages are illustrative rather than predictions for real gold foil. Electron collisions, recoil, energy loss and quantum effects are omitted. Aimed examples are excluded from random-beam statistics.",
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          "Added Polaris control/readout attributes and stage-only CSS.",
          "Added a model-selection control for the Polaris bridge.",
          "Moved the external historical reference URL into catalogue metadata.",
          "Numerical runtime preserved byte-for-byte."
        ]
      },
      "licence": "Schoolynq — all rights reserved",
      "sources": [
        {
          "title": "Rutherford (1911): original scattering paper",
          "url": "https://www.lnl.infn.it/wp-content/uploads/Articolo_Rutherford_1911.pdf"
        }
      ],
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          "version": "1.0.0",
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          "publishedDate": "2026-11-02",
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      ],
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        "edition": "2026-2028",
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