Inelastic scattering

<p>In <a href="/facts/Chemistry/SrNqkGVm">chemistry</a>, <a href="/facts/Nuclear_physics/fzQbt1aF">nuclear physics</a>, and <a href="/facts/Particle_physics/YgIuyj2t">particle physics</a>, inelastic scattering is a process in which the internal states of a particle or a system of particles change after a collision. Often, this means the <a href="/facts/Kinetic_energy/aJRxUd4p">kinetic energy</a> of the incident particle is not <a href="/facts/Conserved_quantity/B1I6D5Ip">conserved</a> (in contrast to <a href="/facts/Elastic_scattering/51u9WlE1">elastic scattering</a>). Additionally, relativistic collisions which involve a transition from one type of particle to another are referred to as inelastic even if the outgoing particles have the same kinetic energy as the incoming ones. Processes which are governed by elastic collisions at a microscopic level will appear to be inelastic if a macroscopic observer only has access to a subset of the degrees of freedom. In <a href="/facts/Compton_scattering/Q98Ty8rz">Compton scattering</a> for instance, the two particles in the collision transfer energy causing a loss of energy in the measured particle.
</p>

Inelastic scattering open-in-new

Inelastic scattering