Which New Zealander discovered the atomic nucleus and split the atom first?
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Lord Ernest Rutherford
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Colin "Pinetree" Meads
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Sir Keith Holyoake
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Sir Robert Muldoon
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Jenny Shipley
A
Correct answer
Explanation
Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand physicist, is known as the father of nuclear physics for discovering the atomic nucleus in 1911 through his gold foil experiment. He was the first to split the atom artificially in 1919. His groundbreaking work established the nuclear model of the atom.