In reply to Bob Cook's message of Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:23:07 -0800: Hi, [snip] >Robin-- > >You stated: > >>When it comes to collisions, it makes little >>difference whether the nucleus is light or heavy. In short any nucleus is >>effectively an "immovable object" as far as an electron is concerned. > >Heavy nuclei are better at creating Bremsstrahlung, since they have more >charge. Nuclei are effectively so small there are few direct hits by >electrons.
...but their electric field is considerable, so even a not so near miss will also result in momentum transfer. Given that the nucleus is many times heavier than the electron, it is the electron that will be deflected and thus experience acceleration, potentially resulting in Bremsstrahlung. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
