Scattering
The scattering cross-section, σscat, is a hypothetical area which describes the likelihood of light (or other radiation) being scattered by a particle. In general, the scattering cross-section is different from the geometrical cross-section of a particle, and it depends upon the wavelength of light and the permittivity, shape and size of the particle. The total amount of scattering in a sparse medium is determined by the product of the scattering cross-section and the number of particles present. In terms of area, the total cross-section (σ) is the sum of the cross-sections due to absorption, scattering and luminescence
The total cross-section is related to the absorbance of the light intensity through Beer-Lambert's law, which says absorbance is proportional to concentration:, where C is the concentration as a number density, Aλ is the absorbance at a given wavelength λ, and is the path length. The extinction or absorbance of the radiation is the logarithm (decadic or, more usually, natural) of the reciprocal of the transmittance:
Read more about this topic: Cross Section (physics)
Famous quotes containing the word scattering:
“Or of the garden where we first mislaid
Simplicity of wish and will, forgetting
Out of what cognate splendor all things came
To take their scattering names;”
—Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)
“What was he doing, the great god Pan,
Down in the reeds by the river?
Spreading ruin and scattering ban,
Splashing and paddling with hoofs of a goat,
And breaking the golden lilies afloat
With the dragon-fly on the river.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“And Time, a maniac scattering dust,
And Life, a Fury slinging flame.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)