Chemical bonding effect in electron scattering by gaseous molecules

The experimental intensity of 30 keV electron small angle scattering by a gaseous molecule is much different from the calculation using usual independent atom model. This is due to the rearrangement of electron distribution in a molecule by the formation of chemical bonds, and is called chemical bonding effect (CBE). The molecules studied are mainly hydrocarbons such as methane, acetylene, ethane, etc. and some non-hydrocarbons. The measurement was carried out on both elastic and total scattering and the effect was found for not only elastic but also inelastic scattering. The effect is relatively large for hydrogen rich molecules as H₂O, NH₃ and hydrocarbons, but is essentially related to the number of atoms contained in molecules. The origin of CBE will attribute mainly to the concentration of inner atomic electrons resulting from chemical bonding.