A dispersion analysis of the EELS from a W(001) surface in the range 1 < ΔE < 35 eV has been performed and compared with recent and complete optical data for tungsten. The non-dispersive ( k ∼ 0) EELS correlated well with a combination of the surface and bulk loss functions calculated from the optical data. Losses at 1–5 eV and a pair at 32 and 34.5 eV were assigned to interband and N 6,7 core ionization excitations respectively. The principal bulk and surface plasmon losses were identified at 24.0 and 20.3 eV respectively. Two further losses at 14.0 and 9.6 eV were also observed and assigned to subsidiary plasmon losses. All four plasmon losses showed only minimal energy dispersion, never exceeding 1.5 eV. A momentum selectivity for separating bulk and surface interband losses was demonstrated with the non-dispersive losses arising from excitations within the bulk even with incident energies as low as 88 eV, whereas their dispersive counterparts were extremely sensitive to the chemical state of the surface. New adsorbate derived losses which develop during adsorption were associated with excitations from the new deep lying adsorbate levels to final state levels at or near the Fermi level. It was concluded that this final state was also responsible for the N 6,7 ionization losses.