Title: collisional excitation
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - collisional excitation
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.C01159
Status: current

Definition
An ion/neutral species process wherein there is an increase in the reactant ion's internal energy at the expense of the translational energy of either (or both) of the reacting species. The scattering angle may be large.

Related Terms
- internal energy: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03103
- scattering angle: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/S05488

Source
- PAC, 1991, 63, 1541. 'Recommendations for nomenclature and symbolism for mass spectroscopy (including an appendix of terms used in vacuum technology). (Recommendations 1991)' on page 1555 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199163101541)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01159/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01159/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01159/xml

Citation: Citation: 'collisional excitation' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.C01159
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-24T22:51:35+00:00