38. interaction of charged particles with matter

braking ability

refers to the ability of a material to slow down or stop a moving charged particle, like an electron or proton. It measures the energy loss per unit distance traveled by the particle through the material. This is crucial in fields like radiation therapy and particle physics.

linear ionization

describes the amount of energy deposited by a charged particle along its path per unit length. It indicates how densely the energy is deposited in a material, which is important for understanding the damage potential in biological tissues.

mean linear pathway

is the average distance that a particle (such as an atom, molecule, or photon) travels in a material before colliding with another particle. In gases, it depends on factors like pressure and temperature, influencing phenomena like gas diffusion and viscosity.

mean free pathway

is essentially the same as the mean linear pathway. It refers to the average distance a particle travels before undergoing a collision or interaction, commonly used in the context of gases and plasmas.

elastic and inelastic interactions

Elastic Interaction: An interaction in which the total kinetic energy of the colliding particles is conserved. The particles may change direction, but their kinetic energy remains the same. Examples include collisions between billiard balls or atoms in a gas.

Inelastic Interaction: In this type of interaction, some kinetic energy is converted into other forms of energy, such as internal energy, potential energy, or radiation. Inelastic collisions often involve changes in the internal states of the particles, such as excitation, ionization, or the emission of photons.

equations