Shown below is the scattering power curve for the carbon atom:



According to this curve, under optimum conditions, carbon scatters as if it had six electrons; the scattering power falls off with increasing θ because X-rays scattered from an electron in one part of an atom will be to an increasing extent out of phase with those scattered in another part of the electron cloud. The scattering power of an atom is often referred to as the "scattering factor".

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