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Glite Dictionary
🔄 To reflect back 📧 Unwanted bounce emails
to backscatter

to backscatter

2 9.5
To bounce back when rays or particles hit a surface
  • verb
  • /ˈbækˌskætər/
  • Specialized
: retrodispersar
  • The sensor can detect the backscatter of radiation from the surface, indicating the presence of hidden materials.
  • backscattered beam
  • backscattered photon
  • backscattered gamma

Examples

  • A detector on the ground measures the backscattered fraction of each beam.

    Academic text (2001)

  • To improve accuracy, the researchers adjusted the equipment to minimize the effects of backscatter from surrounding objects.

  • A backscattered photon acquires a significant fraction of the colliding electron's energy.

    Academic text (2005)

  • In the experiment, the team analyzed how effectively the particles produced a backscatter response when exposed to radiation.

Surface Forms

backscatter infinitive
backscattered past
backscattered past participle
backscattering present participle
backscatters third person singular

Morphology

backscatter = scatter (transparent) = back + scatter

Meaning is a straightforward 'scatter back' action: the prefix 'back-' indicates direction and combines transparently with 'scatter'.

Etymology

Backscatter combines back ('back') and scatter ('to spread or throw about'). So, in physics it describes rays or particles that are bounced back toward their source.