Total electron scattering cross sections for methanol and ethanol at intermediate energies

Absolute total cross section (TCS) measurements of electron scattering from gaseous methanol and ethanol molecules are reported for impact energies from 60 to 500 eV, using the linear transmission method. The attenuation of intensity of a collimated electron beam through the target volume is used to determine the absolute TCS for a given impact energy, using the Beer–Lambert law to first approximation. Besides these experimental measurements, we have also determined TCS using the additivity rule.