Warner Cribb

cribb@mtsu.edu

Ron Zawislak

Geosciences

Discipline specific equipment

KOM 102B

New Technology

N/A

X-ray diffractometers (XRD) are widely used in geology and concrete engineering to identify unknown crystalline solids and to study the arrangement of atoms in crystals. An unknown solid is irradiated, causing the solid to emit a pattern of diffracted X-rays reflecting its unique atomic arrangement. The unknown solid is identified by matching its emitted diffraction pattern to that of a known crystalline solid. It is important that all geology and concrete majors gain XRD experience in preparation for employment and/or graduate studies. XRD will complement an existing NSF-funded X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and a new inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS) (NSF proposal, 12/2004), both used for elemental analyses of minerals/rocks/concrete. The XRD, XRF, and ICPMS jointly will comprise a Geosciences-ETIS materials analysis facility. Courses which will utilize the XRD are: Honors Earth Science, Mineralogy, Petrology, Sedimentation/Stratigraphy, Geochemistry, Applied Geochemistry, Concrete Fundamentals Laboratory, Concrete Problems/Diagnosis, Senior Concrete Laboratory. Based upon recent enrollments, approximately 200 undergraduates per year will benefit. The XRD also will be used for undergraduate research, and in a future materials sciences M.S. program (TBR Letter of Intent, spring 2005). Estimated lifetime of XRD is 25 years. Operating costs will be shared by Geosciences and ETIS.