  Lateral distributions for electrons and muons in extensive air showers
measured with the array of the KASCADE experiment are compared to results of
simulations based on the high-energy hadronic interaction models QGSJet and
SIBYLL. It is shown, that the muon distributions are well described by both
models. Deviations are found for the electromagnetic component, where both
models predict a steeper lateral shape than observed in the data. For both
models the observed lateral shapes of the electron component indicate a
transition from a light to a more heavy composition of the cosmic ray spectrum
above the knee.
