Scattering is ______ related to frequency.

• A. Directly
• B. Indirectly
• C. Not at all
• D. Inversely

Answer: (A)

When waves scatter off small particles, the amount of scattering tends to grow as frequency increases. In the Rayleigh scattering regime, the scattered power rises rapidly with frequency (it scales strongly with f, roughly as f^4 in many cases). That means higher frequency waves interact more effectively with the particles, producing more scattered energy. A classic example is the sky’s color: shorter wavelengths (higher frequency) scatter much more than longer wavelengths, giving the sky its blue tint. While the exact dependence can vary with particle size and scattering regime, the general trend in common scattering contexts is that increased frequency leads to more scattering, so scattering is directly related to frequency.