From his own work and the work of his students Bohr and Henry Moseley, Rutherford knew that the positive charge of any atom could always be equated to that of an integer number of hydrogen nuclei.
Dari karyanya sendiri dan karya murid-muridnya Bohr dan Henry Moseley, Rutherford mengetahui bahwa muatan positif dari setiap atom selalu bisa disamakan dengan jumlah inti hidrogen.