The total cross sections for positron impact on hydrocarbons have been calculated using the additivity rule in which the total cross section for a molecule is the sum of the total cross section for the constituent atoms. The energy range considered is from a few eV to several thousand eV. The total cross sections for positron impact on an atom are calculated by employing a complex spherical potential which comprises of a static, polarization and an absorption potential. We have good agreement with the experimental results for hydrocarbons for positron energy ⩾100 eV. Our results also agree with the available calculations for CH₄ and C₂H₂ which employed full molecular wavefunctions beyond 100 eV. Our absorption cross sections also agree with molecular wave-function calculations for C₂H₂ and CH₄ beyond 100 eV. We have shown the Bethe plots fore⁺−C ande⁺−H scattering systems and Bethe parameters have been extracted. We have fitted the cross section for positron impact on hydrocarbons in the formσ_t(C_nH_m)=naE⁻b+mcE⁻d in the energy range 300–5000 eV wherea=195.0543,b=0.7986,c=371.1757 andd=1.1379 withE in eV andσ_t in 10⁻¹⁶ cm².

The total (elastic + inelastic) cross sections fore⁺ impact on alkaline-earth elements from Be to Ra are calculated by employing a complex spherical optical potential. This potential has static, polarization and absorption components. The positron energy range is from a few eV to several thousand eV. We have compared our elastic cross sections for Mg and Ca with the other available results and the agreement is good for energies above 100eV. We have also compared our absorption cross sections withe⁻ ionization cross sections at high energies where our absorption cross sections are in good accord. We have made Bethe plots fore⁺ scattering on these elements.