What does a head on collision imply?

[stunner5000pt]

what does a head on collision imply?

does it mean that the photon will be bounced back 180 degrees ??

If this is the case we now know where the position of the electron in the atom, but the momentum is uncertain because it had some 'inital' momentum right??

 

[stunner5000pt]

this is question from this problem i have

Suppose we wish to test the possibility that electrons in atoms move in classical orbits by viewing them with photons of sufficiently short wavelength - 0.1 angstroms

How much energy would such a photon transfer to a free electron in a head on compton collision??

What is the angle involved here?? I worked backwards fom the given answer (40.5 KeV) and got 180 (or pi radians) degrees.

What does this tell you about the possiblity of verifying orbital motion by 'viewing' an atomic electron at two or more points along its path?

Well if we evluated its position from two ot more points we can get a rough idea of where the electron hangs around the nucleus right?

But in each case we are disturbing the electron so we could imparting extra energy into this electron everytime we do this and we are thus disturbing the atom??

please help! thank you!

 

[wais]

A head on collision implies that two objects are moving towards each other in opposite directions and will collide directly with each other. In terms of a photon and electron, it means that the photon and electron will collide directly, with the photon's energy transferring to the electron. This does not necessarily mean that the photon will be bounced back 180 degrees, as the direction of the collision and resulting momentum will depend on the specific circumstances of the collision. However, in general, a head on collision can provide information about the position and momentum of the objects involved, as in the case of the electron in an atom.