nuclear cross section

1 definition found

nuclear cross section - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  cross section \cross section\ n.
     1. a flat plane cutting through a three-dimensional object,
        usually at right angles to the longest axis of the object.
        [PJC]
  
     2. any visual representation of a cross section[1], showing
        the internal structure of the object in the plane of the
        cross section; as, the technician prepared a series of MRI
        cross sections of the skull.
  
     Note: Different cross sections created by different
           techniques may show different aspects of internal
           structure. Thus computerized axial tomography using
           X-rays shows different structures than are visualized
           by MRI.
           [PJC]
  
     3. a thin slice of an object made by cutting it transversely;
        as, to view a cross section of a bacterium with an
        electron microscope after staining the DNA; cross sections
        were prepared with a microtome.
        [PJC]
  
     4. a representative sample of a complex group; as, the town
        contained a cross section of the American population.
        [PJC]
  
     5. (Physics) a measure of the probability that a nucleus will
        interact in a specified way with a bombarding particle,
        expressed as the effective area that the nucleus presents
        to the particle; -- called also nuclear cross section.
        [PJC]