Question

An x-ray photon collides head-on with an electron and is scattered directly back at 160◦ to
its original direction.

What is the shift in the wavelength of the incident x-ray?

do i need to figure out the "compton shift" in order to solve..can someone please show me how to do this problem? Please and thank you so much!

Answer 1

delta wavelength=.00243(1-cos theta)

Answer 2

Yes, it is a Compton shift problem. The "theta" that you use is 160 degrees, which is the angle that the X-ray photon is scattered. (The electron is scattered at a different angle).

Your 0.00243 constant is actually
h/(mc), where h is Planck's constant and m is the electron mass. You need to say what the units are.
h/mc = 2.43*10^-10 cm according to my textbook. That would be 2.43*10-2 Angstroms or 2.43*10^-3 nanometers (nm)

The equation you wrote down apparently uses nanometers.

The wavelength change is 1.94*2.43*10^-3 = 4.7*10^-3 nm, or 47 Angstroms

The scattered wavelength is longer by that amount.

Answer 3

My 'nanometers' number is correct, but would be 4.7*10^-2 Angstroms

X-ray wavelengths are typically 0.01 to 10 nm, which is 0.1 to 100 Angstroms

The Angstroms unit of wavelength seems to be less fashionable, although most "wavelength tables" published in the past used Angstroms