X-Ray Spectroscopy and The Development of the Periodic Table
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Spectroscopy Applications
Applications:
Practical reasons to test the chemical composition of a structure.
1. Portable x-ray diffraction microprobes are by manufactures to test products for quality control.
a. For example if a company test the coating of a toy and it comes up that there is lead in the toy, this is how recent toys were found to be in need of a recall
b. Before buying or renting a property the paint can be tested to see if it contains lead in the home inspection process.
c. Junk yards also use this technique to sort scrap metals.
2. Mineralology
a. Using x-ray spectroscopy is most useful in minerals when charting the elemental composition change of a mineral from the center outwards toward the edge. This can give a plethora of information about the history of the crystal such as: the temperature, pressure and chemistry of the surrounding medium in which the crystal formed.
b.
Gems:
studying the different ratios of silicon to
oxygen in different silicates allows geologists to identify different
properties that different silicates possess and found that certain
ratios have
consistent properties. X-ray
crystallographic study has also been extended to minerals in which
aluminum is
substituted for silicon in the silicates.
This opened the door complex metallic ionic structures in the
mid 1920s
and is now used in the testing of synthetic gemstones.
3. Paleotology
a.
When
archaologists find in tact remains including soft tissue such as in
Opabinia,
it is difficult to determine for instance if a triangular shape of soft
tissue
is a leg or extensition of the gut.
Through use of x-ray spectroscopy to map the elements of the
sample it
was determined to have the composition of the gut.
Other
Applications:
5.
Astronomy