Scientists predict how certain atoms will act assuming a certain structure. Then experiments
are performed with instrumentation to collect information. The data is analyzed and
if seen to uphold the idea of the structure, the idea that an atom is structured in that way
is supported. Scientists will infer they are right. (U21, postquestionnaire)
Since atoms are much too small to see, scientists would have had to use indirect means
to figure out what atoms look like. They did experiments and came up with models that
would explain the way matter behaved, did more experiments, and adjusted the models to
be consistent with what they learned about the way matter behaved. (G2, postquestionnaire)