X-ray powder diffraction camera
Datecirca 1955
Inventory Number2004-1-0320
ClassificationX-Ray Diffraction Camera
Subject
User
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
founded circa 1775
Maker
American
?
Cultural Region
Place of Use
Dimensions16.6 × 14.8 × 9.3 cm (6 9/16 × 5 13/16 × 3 11/16 in.)
Material
Accessoriesknobs
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. 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
Curatorial RemarksFor a similar model see 2004-1-0321
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 .
ProvenanceCarl Francis, Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0321
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0319
Mineralogical Museum, Harvard University
Date: circa 1950
Object number: 2004-1-0334
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
Otto Von der Hyde
Date: circa 1955
Object number: 2004-1-0326
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
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
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: 1997-1-1738
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
Brian J. Skinner
Date: circa 1956
Accessories: reprint of paper on instrument and use in file.
Object number: 1997-1-1716
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
Martin J. Buerger
Date: 1945-1960
Object number: 1998-1-1673a
See also/See also
