deflection

deflection: 1. A change in the direction of a traveling particle, usually without loss of particle kinetic energy, representing a change in velocity without a change in the scalar speed of the particle. 2. A change in the direction of a wave, beam, electron, or other entity, such as might be accomplished by an electric or magnetic field. Note: If the deflection is caused by a prism (refraction), a mirror (reflection), or optical grating (diffraction), the specific applicable term should be used. [From Weik '89]

This HTML version of FS-1037C was last generated on Fri Aug 23 00:22:38 MDT 1996