Using the Monte Carlo method, we have calculated, for 50 keV electrons incident on a gold target, the dependence of the effective Sherman asymmetry function and scattered intensity on the target thickness and inelastic energy loss window for scattering angles from 90° to 180°. Our results show that, when the gold target is thicker than 700 Å or the inelastic energy loss window is larger than 1200 eV, the scattered intensity is maximum at a scattering angle of about 120°, and the effective Sherman function is almost constant over a wide range of scattering angles. Thus, for Mott scattering spin polarimeters, the electron detectors should be positioned at ±120°, and the larger the collection angle for scattered electrons, the higher the efficiency of the Mott polarimeter. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.