X-ray Diffraction: Concepts, Techniques & Applications

 

Selecting the appropriate education level to which you want to introduce your students to the concepts and instrumentation of Anyalytical chemistry. In this section we will be covering X-ray diffraction at various level; starting from a basic level to scientific level.

Before beginnng, each level introduces the level audience it is meant for. In case you realize that the selected level is not meant for your students then you may change it by simply clicking the above tab to enter the appropriate tab.

We are constantly updating our course modules. In case you realize that something needs to be added into any level of our modules then please write and let us know acide@iastate.edu.

 

Basics of X-rays

 

Q1. What is X-ray?

A1. X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, just like visible light. Electomagnetic radiation is a part of Electromagnetic Spectrum , this is comprised of a group radiation that are collectively called as electromagnetic radiation.

There are many different kinds of electromagnetic radiation, like the visible light that allows us to see colors, or the radio waves that transmit sound over large distances, or the even microwaves we use to cook our food.  Infrared and ultraviolet light comes from the sun; infared is responsible for causing the global warming, and ultraviolet penetrates the atmosphere and causes skin cancer. Also, X-rays and Gamma are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, these rays are generated by much hotter and energetic objects like stars!

X-rays are most commonly used by your doctor or dentist to look at your bones and teeth. X-rays have a wavelength between 10 to 0.01 nanometers, They are shorter in wavelength than visible light rays.

In chemistry, one of the uses of X-rays are in X-ray crystallography. X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal. X-rays strikes a crystal and scatters into many different directions, the way the X-rays scatter gives researchers an idea of the structure.

 

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