We can analyze this collision using conservation laws just as we analyzed elastic collisions in Chapter 8. Imagine an x ray of frequency f scattered by a stationary free electron of mass m(Fig. 28.2a). Since the ray moves at the speed of light. the momentum of the incident photon is Similarly.
__ the momentum ol the scattered photon is where is the wavelength of the scattered photon and its direction makes an angle with the incident beam The momentum of the electron recoiling with speed v is