X-ray powder diffraction camera
Date: circa 1955
Inventory Number: 2004-1-0320
Classification: X-Ray Diffraction Camera
Subject:
User: Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University (founded circa 1775)
Maker: American ?
Cultural Region:
City of Use:
Dimensions:
16.6 × 14.8 × 9.3 cm (6 9/16 × 5 13/16 × 3 11/16 in.)
Accessories: knobs
Description:
Upright circular chamber fixed on a solid base that can be mounted on a slider. The cylindrical part has two diametrically opposed orifices, with a pinhole collimator screwed in one of them. The top of the cylinder has a detachable round lid. In the center of the cylinder there is a specimen holder where the sample is to be mounted. On top there are two screws, one used to fix the X-ray film, and the second to center the sample holder.
Signedunsigned
InscribedPlastic label reads: MIN 104
FunctionAn X-ray diffraction camera can be used to determine the atomic arrangement of crystals.
The wavelength of an X-ray is similar in size to the distance between atoms in crystalline substances. Thus, by recording how a material scatters X-rays, and causes variation in their intensity, one may determine its crystal structure - the pattern by which its atoms are arranged as well as the precise distance between them.
This powder X-ray camera (also known as a Debye-Scherrer camera) consists of a light-tight cylindrical enclosure which holds a strip of X-ray film accurately fixed on its perimeter. The specimen, usually a fine powder, is accurately placed on the axis of the cylinder. A fine beam of X-rays, produced by passing the beam through a metal collimator, is scattered on the sample. The pattern of lines on the photograph represents possible values of the Bragg angles that satisfy Bragg’s law .
The wavelength of an X-ray is similar in size to the distance between atoms in crystalline substances. Thus, by recording how a material scatters X-rays, and causes variation in their intensity, one may determine its crystal structure - the pattern by which its atoms are arranged as well as the precise distance between them.
This powder X-ray camera (also known as a Debye-Scherrer camera) consists of a light-tight cylindrical enclosure which holds a strip of X-ray film accurately fixed on its perimeter. The specimen, usually a fine powder, is accurately placed on the axis of the cylinder. A fine beam of X-rays, produced by passing the beam through a metal collimator, is scattered on the sample. The pattern of lines on the photograph represents possible values of the Bragg angles that satisfy Bragg’s law .
Curatorial RemarksFor a similar model see 2004-1-0321
ProvenanceCarl Francis, Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University