X-ray powder diffraction camera
Datecirca 1934
Inventory Number1997-1-1738
ClassificationX-Ray Diffraction Camera
Subject
Inventor
Harry Berman
1902 - 1944
Maker
Clifford Frondel
?
1907 - 2002
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensions17 x 17.5 x 11 cm (6 11/16 x 6 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
Material
AccessoriesReprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
DescriptionUpright 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 protected by a metal shield. The top of the cylinder has a detachable round lid. In the center of the cylinder there is a pin where the specimen is to be mounted.
Signedunsigned
InscribedAdhesive circular tag: 0-2
Curatorial RemarksFirst ones used in Geology Dept. in 1934. Made in a machine shop to a design by Harry Berman.
Probably a similar design with 1997-1-1737
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 measurements can be repeated using the second collimator. 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 measurements can be repeated using the second collimator. The pattern of lines on the photograph represents possible values of the Bragg angles that satisfy Bragg's law .
ProvenanceProf Clifford Frondel, Geology, Harvard University
Harry Berman
Date: circa 1934
Accessories: Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1737
Clifford Frondel
Date: 1950
Accessories: Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1721
Clifford Frondel
Date: 1950
Accessories: electrical cord
Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1726
Clifford Frondel
Date: 1930-1955
Accessories: loose part (knob) on shelf
Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1722
Clifford Frondel
Date: ca. 1925-1940
Accessories: metal piece with screw, and piece of rock, in two archival baggies.
Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1725
Clifford Frondel
Date: circa 1930
Accessories: Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1724
Date: 1950
Accessories: Reprint, A PRECISION X-RAY POWDER CAMERA by Clifford Frondel, American Mineralogist, 40:876-884 (1955), stored in instrument file, 1997-1-1721
Object number: 1997-1-1723
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0321
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1955
Accessories: knobs
Object number: 2004-1-0320
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0319
Otto Von der Hyde
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0326
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1950
Object number: 2004-1-0334
See also/See also
