As always there are two aspects. The above topic is one approach to the problem. It is a special case of projectiles, which are directed towards a target and where subsequent analysis should provide information. The simplest type is elastic scattering, when the projectile does not loose energy to the target, which remains in the state it was before the scattering. However, the projectile gets deflected from its original path and from it, one destils information on the distribution of paricles in matter.
Prime examples are x-ray diffraction from crystals and the distribution of protons inside a nucleus.
Occasionally a projectile does loose energy to the target. The probability of occurrence provides specific information on the structure of the target. Inclusive scattering is a particular kind of inelastic scattering, where a large amount of energy is transferred to a target, enabling the excitation of many modes, without there existing information for a selected one. The same holds for the momentum transferred. In the experiment one deliberately detects only the projectile, or a very limited of other particles.