1) Atoms are composed of a small, dense, positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons.
2) Rutherford's gold foil experiment showed that atoms are mostly empty space, with a small, dense nucleus accounting for most of an atom's mass.
3) The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in its nucleus, while the mass number includes both protons and neutrons. Isotopes of the same element have different numbers of neutrons.