mn vn,i
mT vT,i
mn vn,f
mT vT,f
1
2
m v2
1
2
mn v2n,i
1
2
mT v2T,i
1
2
mn v2n,f
1
2
mT v2T,f
NEUTRON INTERACTIONS
DOE-HDBK-1019/1-93
Atomic and Nuclear Physics
NP-01
Page 44
Rev. 0
Figure 16 Elastic Scattering
Figure 16 illustrates the process of elastic scattering of a neutron off a target nucleus. In the
elastic scattering reaction, the conservation of momentum and kinetic energy is represented by
the equations below.
Conservation of momentum (mv)
Conservation of kinetic energy
where:
m
=
mass of the neutron
n
m
=
mass of the target nucleus
T
v
=
initial neutron velocity
n,i
v
=
final neutron velocity
n,f
v
=
initial target velocity
T,i
v
=
final target velocity
T,f
