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Scattering is the dispersal of a beam of particles or of radiation into a range of directions as a result of physical interactions.

When light passes through a substance or gas, a part of it is absorbed and the rest scattered away. The basic process in scattering is absorption of light by the molecules followed by re-radiation in different directions. The strength of scattering can be measured by the loss of energy in the light beam as it passes through the medium. In absorption the light energy is converted into the internal energy of the medium and in scattering the light energy is radiated in other directions. The strength of scattering depends on the size of the particle causing the scattering and the wavelength of light.