  The results of a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of the C60
collective excitations in the process of inelastic scattering of electrons are
presented. The shape of the electron energy loss spectrum is observed to vary
when the scattering angle increases. This variation arising due to the electron
diffraction of the fullerene shell is described by a new theoretical model
which treats the fullerene as a spherical shell of a finite width and accounts
for the two modes of the surface plasmon and for the volume plasmon as well. It
is shown that at small angles, the inelastic scattering cross section is
determined mostly by the symmetric mode of the surface plasmon, while at larger
angles, the contributions of the antisymmetric surface plasmon and the volume
plasmon become prominent.
