Scatter

Scatter

Scatter refers to the phenomenon where particles or waves are deflected or diffused in various directions. This term is widely used in different fields such as physics, medicine, statistics, and computer graphics.

Physics

In physics, scattering is a fundamental process that occurs when particles or waves encounter obstacles or non-uniformities in the medium through which they are traveling. There are several types of scattering, including:

• Rayleigh scattering: This occurs when particles are much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. It is responsible for the blue color of the sky.
• Mie scattering: This occurs when the particles are about the same size as the wavelength of the radiation. It is often used to describe the scattering of light by atmospheric particles.
• Compton scattering: This involves the scattering of X-rays or gamma rays by electrons.
• Rutherford scattering: This describes the deflection of charged particles by the Coulomb force.

Medicine

In medicine, scatter is often discussed in the context of medical imaging techniques such as X-ray and CT scans. Scattered radiation can degrade image quality and increase the dose of radiation received by the patient. Techniques such as grids and collimation are used to reduce scatter.

Statistics

In statistics, scatter refers to the spread or dispersion of a set of data points. This is often visualized using a scatter plot, which shows the relationship between two variables. Measures of scatter include the variance and standard deviation.

Computer Graphics

In computer graphics, scatter is used in the context of rendering techniques to simulate the way light interacts with surfaces. Techniques such as subsurface scattering are used to create realistic images of materials like skin, marble, and other translucent objects.

Related Pages

• Rayleigh scattering
• Mie scattering
• Compton scattering
• Rutherford scattering
• Medical imaging
• X-ray
• CT scan
• Scatter plot
• Variance
• Standard deviation
• Subsurface scattering