inelastic scattering

(noun)

a fundamental scattering process in which the kinetic energy of an incident particle is not conserved

Related Terms

  • Thomson scattering
  • Doppler shift

Examples of inelastic scattering in the following topics:

  • The Compton Effect

    • Compton scattering is an inelastic scattering of a photon by a free charged particle (usually an electron).
    • Part of the energy of the photon is transferred to the scattering electron.
    • Compton scattering is an example of inelastic scattering because the wavelength of the scattered light is different from the incident radiation.
    • Although nuclear Compton scattering exists, Compton scattering usually refers to the interaction involving only the electrons of an atom.
    • The Compton Effect is the name given to the scattering of a photon by an electron.
  • Inelastic Collisions in One Dimension

    • Collisions may be classified as either inelastic or elastic collisions based on how energy is conserved in the collision.
    • While inelastic collisions may not conserve total kinetic energy, they do conserve total momentum.
    • A perfectly inelastic collision happens when the maximum amount of kinetic energy in a system is lost.
    • In this perfectly inelastic collision, the first block bonds completely to the second block as shown.
    • In this animation, one mass collides into another initially stationary mass in a perfectly inelastic collision.
  • Inelastic Collisions in Multiple Dimensions

    • While inelastic collisions may not conserve total kinetic energy, they do conserve total momentum.
    • At this point we will expand our discussion of inelastic collisions in one dimension to inelastic collisions in multiple dimensions.
    • While inelastic collisions may not conserve total kinetic energy, they do conserve total momentum .
    • After this, we will calculate whether this collision was inelastic or not.
    • As these values are not the same, we know this was an inelastic collision.
  • Scattering of Light by the Atmosphere

    • Rayleigh scattering describes the air's gas molecules scattering light as it enters the atmosphere; it also describes why the sky is blue.
    • Rayleigh scattering is the elastic scattering of waves by particles that are much smaller than the wavelengths of those waves.
    • Rayleigh scattering is due to the polarizability of an individual molecule.
    • So, the shorter the wavelength, the more it will get scattered.
    • When you look closer and closer to the sun, the light is not being scattered because it is approaching a 90-degree angle with the scattering particles.
  • Glancing Collisions

    • Collisions can either be elastic, meaning they conserve both momentum and kinetic energy, or inelastic, meaning they conserve momentum but not kinetic energy.
    • An inelastic collision is sometimes also called a plastic collision.
    • A "perfectly-inelastic" collision (also called a "perfectly-plastic" collision) is a limiting case of inelastic collision in which the two bodies stick together after impact.
    • The degree to which a collision is elastic or inelastic is quantified by the coefficient of restitution, a value that generally ranges between zero and one.
    • A perfectly elastic collision has a coefficient of restitution of one; a perfectly-inelastic collision has a coefficient of restitution of zero.
  • Scattering

    • However, there is a big elephant in the middle of the room that we have been ignoring—bf scattering.
    • Why is scattering a problem?
    • We can first look at a process in which the photon is scattered into a random direction without a change in energy.
    • If isotropic scattering is the only process acting we find that the source function
    • Even if one neglects scattering, one often has to solve an integro-differential equation.
  • Conservation of Energy and Momentum

    • In an inelastic collision the total kinetic energy after the collision is not equal to the total kinetic energy before the collision.
    • At this point we will expand our discussion of inelastic collisions in one dimension to inelastic collisions in multiple dimensions.
    • While inelastic collisions may not conserve total kinetic energy, they do conserve total momentum .
    • After this, we will calculate whether this collision was inelastic or not.
    • Since these values are not the same we know that it was an inelastic collision.
  • Polarization By Scattering and Reflecting

    • Unpolarized light can be polarized artificially, as well as by natural phenomenon like reflection and scattering.
    • Just as unpolarized light can be partially polarized by reflecting, it can also be polarized by scattering (also known as Rayleigh scattering; illustrated in ).
    • In all other directions, the light scattered by air will be partially polarized.
    • Also known as Rayleigh scattering.
    • Unpolarized light scattering from air molecules shakes their electrons perpendicular to the direction of the original ray.
  • Inverse Compton Scattering

    • In Compton scattering the photon always loses energy to an electron initially at rest.
    • Inverse Compton scattering corresponds to the situation where the photon gains energy from the electron because the electron is in motion.
    • where $\Theta$ is the angle between the incident and scattered photon in the rest-frame of the electron.
    • $\langle \cos\theta_f'\rangle$ is also zero because the scatter photon is forward-backward symmetric in the rest-frame of the electron so we find that
  • Repeated Scattering with Low Optical Depth

    • However, it is also possible to produce a power-law distribution of photons from a thermal distribution of electrons if the optical depth to scattering is low.
    • This will also give some insight about how one gets power-law energy distributions in general.Let $A$ be the mean amplification per scattering,
    • The probability that a photon will scatter as it passes through a medium is simply $\tau_{es}$ if the optical depth is low, and the probability that it will undergo $k$ scatterings $p_k \sim \tau_{es}^k$ and its energy after $k$ scatterings is $E_k=A^k E_i$, so we have
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