The q-vector in fact has three components:
- Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathbf{q} = \begin{bmatrix} q_x & q_y & q_z \end{bmatrix} }
Consider that the x-ray beam points along +y, so that on the detector, the horizontal is x, and the vertical is z. We assume that the x-ray beam hits the flat 2D area detector at 90° at detector (pixel) position Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \scriptstyle (x,z) }
. The scattering angles are then:
![{\displaystyle {\begin{alignedat}{2}\theta _{f}&=\arctan \left[{\frac {x}{d}}\right]\\\alpha _{f}^{\prime }&=\arctan \left[{\frac {z}{d}}\right]\\\alpha _{f}&=\arctan \left[{\frac {z}{d/\cos \theta _{f}}}\right]\end{alignedat}}}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/facc9ad57cd58f15e7403d40dc08f08815d3662b)
where Failed to parse (Conversion error. Server ("https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_") reported: "Cannot get mml. Server problem."): {\displaystyle \scriptstyle d}
is the sample-detector distance, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \scriptstyle \alpha_f ^{\prime} }
is the out-of-plane component (angle w.r.t. to y-axis, rotation about x-axis), and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \scriptstyle \theta_f }
is the in-plane component (rotation about z-axis). The alternate angle, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \scriptstyle \alpha_f }
, is the elevation angle in the plane defined by
. Also note that the full scattering angle is:
![{\displaystyle {\begin{alignedat}{2}2\theta _{s}=\Theta &=\arctan \left[{\frac {\sqrt {x^{2}+z^{2}}}{d}}\right]\\&=\arctan \left[{\frac {\sqrt {(d\tan \theta _{f})^{2}+(d\tan \alpha _{f}^{\prime })^{2}}}{d}}\right]\\&=\arctan \left[{\sqrt {\tan ^{2}\theta _{f}+\tan ^{2}\alpha _{f}^{\prime }}}\right]\\&=\arctan \left[{\sqrt {\tan ^{2}\theta _{f}+{\frac {\tan ^{2}\alpha _{f}}{\cos ^{2}\theta _{f}}}}}\right]\\\end{alignedat}}}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/ce190aa4f7dd836349234c33033cb245c49d4f20)
The momentum transfer components are:
- Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{alignat}{2} q_x & = \frac{2 \pi}{\lambda} \sin \theta_f \cos \alpha_f \\ q_y & = \frac{2 \pi}{\lambda} \left ( \cos \theta_f \cos \alpha_f - 1 \right ) \\ q_z & = \frac{2 \pi}{\lambda} \sin \alpha_f \end{alignat} }
Check
As a check of these results, consider:

We note that:
- Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{alignat}{2} \cos \theta_f & = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 + (x/d)^2}} \\ & = \frac{d^2}{\sqrt{d^2+x^2}} \end{alignat} }
Continuing:
![{\displaystyle {\begin{alignedat}{2}{\frac {q^{2}}{k^{2}}}&=?\\&=?\\&=?\\&=?\\&=?\\&={\frac {x^{2}+z^{2}}{d^{2}+x^{2}+z^{2}}}\\{\frac {q}{k}}&={\sqrt {\frac {x^{2}+z^{2}}{d^{2}+x^{2}+z^{2}}}}\\&={\frac {\sqrt {x^{2}+z^{2}}}{\sqrt {d^{2}+x^{2}+z^{2}}}}\\&={\frac {\left[{\sqrt {x^{2}+z^{2}}}/d\right]}{\sqrt {1+\left[{\sqrt {x^{2}+z^{2}}}/d\right]^{2}}}}\\&=\sin \left(\arctan \left[{\frac {\sqrt {x^{2}+z^{2}}}{d}}\right]\right)\\q&={\frac {2\pi }{\lambda }}\sin \left(2\theta _{s}\right)\end{alignedat}}}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/96f779b6f625f912acd1f98a914ab464d33cecd6)