[Rockhounds] DIY XRD?
Hans Durstling
siniconb at gmail.com
Thu Oct 23 09:30:42 PDT 2008
Kitchen-table affordable Xrays should be no problem at all. Back in
the days when people still tinkered and I could buy nitric acid at the
corner drug store I remember reading in one of the scientific hobby
publications that certain early radio tubes were a generous source of
incidental Xrays and could be modified to make them much more so. Or
given even rudimentary glass blowing ability and access to a good
vacuum pump you should be able to make your own tube. Then all you'd
need is a high voltage DC power supply which likely could be scavenged
from a television, a computer or some other domestic device, thus
leaving the bulk of the budget for lead and concrete; you wouldn't
want to skimp on that.
Cheers,
Hans Durstling
Moncton, Canada
typing two handed again, broken arm mending
On 10/23/08, J Bryan Kramer <codeburner at gmail.com> wrote:
> It has been known for a year or two that lightning not only produces X-Rays
> it produces Gamma.
>
> <http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15675313>
>
> <http://news.ufl.edu/2003/01/30/lightxray/>
>
> <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071011-lightning-rays.html>
>
>
> BK
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 09:55, <Pmodreski at aol.com> wrote:
>
> > Ah, yes, now, let's not throw too much cold water on Kreigh's cool idea.
> > Who knows, "in theory" it might work, but in practice... yeah, the amount
> > of
> > X-rays produced are probably very miniscule, and although in theory one
> > might
> > filter out just one wavelength of X-rays, in practice what one is starting
> > with is probably too spread over a range of X-ray wavelengths, to be
> > useful.
> > And the X-rays are probably emitted in all directions, not focused
> > geometrically at all, so by the time one collimated just the ones traveling
> > in a
> > particular direction toward the sample, one would again lose 99% of the
> > tiny amount
> > that had been produced... There was also the caveat in the story, that
> > the
> > X-rays were only detectable when the experiment was done in a vacuum
> > chamber.
> >
> > I wonder, if a miniscule amount of X-rays are produced in any electrical
> > discharge, where high-voltage electrons are hitting something; as in a
> > lightning
> > bolt, or even, in a static electricity discharge when you shuffle across
> > the
> > rug and touch your finger to something metal? Seems like that and the
> > Scotch
> > Tape, are just different versions of the same thing. That would be even
> > the simpler way to generate the X-rays for Kreigh's homemade
> > mini-diffractometer!
> >
> > Cheers, and keep at it, Kreigh,
> > Pete
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 10/22/2008 7:49:23 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
> > Kreigh at tomaszewski.net writes:
> >
> > Bryan,
> >
> > The Bragg Equation requires the wavelength. Coherent x-rays from an
> > incoherent source are fairly easy to produce using a small aperture
> > monochromator. That problem was solved about a hundred years ago.
> >
> > I agree that the real problem is the energy. There has to be enough at
> > some wavelength to produce a detectable beam out of the filtered
> > source. I assume there is enough since they were able to x-ray a
> > finger, but it might require a slower scan than a commercial unit; it
> > is easy to make x-ray detection cumulative.
> >
> > How long will a roll of tape last? How many times can it be reused? I
> > would be really happy to be able to get an analysis for the cost of a
> > roll of tape.
> >
> > Kreigh
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008, at 20:58 America/Detroit, J Bryan Kramer
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Doesn't x-ray energy/wavelength make a difference for x-ray
> > > diffraction? I
> > > read that scotch tape article and it didn't sound like you could
> > > control
> > > much beyond being able to produce some sort of x-rays in bursts.
> > >
> > > BK
> > >
> > > On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 20:44, Kreigh Tomaszewski
> > > <Kreigh at tomaszewski.net>wrote:
> > >
> > >> I've often wished I could move a lab into my basement and do x-ray
> > >> analysis
> > >> of minerals, but cost makes it just a dream.
> > >>
> > >> Now it has been discovered that unrolling scotch take in a vacuum
> > >> produces
> > >> x-rays.
> > >>
> > >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081022/ap_on_sc/sci_scotch_tape_surprise
> > >>
> > >> Using a roll of tape, a small motor to unwind it, and a vacuum pump,
> > >> to
> > >> produce a source of x-rays turns the dream into a possible do it
> > >> yourself
> > >> project.
> > >>
> > >> The database for comparison against known minerals is available at
> > >> places
> > >> such as http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/AMS/amcsd.php. The rest of the
> > >> details are relatively trivial once you have a source of x-rays.
> > >>
> > >> http://productsearch.machinedesign.com/mdproducts/x_ray_diffraction
> > >>
> > >> Anybody interested in a science project?
> > >>
> > >> Kreigh
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> > >> Subscription Services:
> > >> http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> > >> List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> > >> http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > >
> > > "The thunderbolt falls on an inch of ground; but the light of it fills
> > > the
> > > horizon."
> > >
> > > Ralph Waldo Emerson
> > >
> > > J Bryan Krämer
> > > North Florida, USA
> > > photos at:
> > > http://pbase.com/photoburner
> > >
> > >
> > > --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
> > > multipart/alternative
> > > text/plain (text body -- kept)
> > > text/html
> > > ---
> > > --
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> > > Subscription Services:
> > > http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> > > List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> > > http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > _______________________________________________
> > Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> > Subscription Services:
> > http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> > List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> > http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
> >
> > **************Play online games for FREE at Games.com! All of your
> > favorites,
> > no registration required and great graphics – check it out!
> > (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1211202682x1200689022/aol?redir=
> > http://www.games.com?ncid=emlcntusgame00000001)
> >
> >
> > --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
> > multipart/alternative
> > text/plain (text body -- kept)
> > text/html
> > ---
> > --
> > _______________________________________________
> > Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> > Subscription Services:
> > http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> > List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> > http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
>
> "The thunderbolt falls on an inch of ground; but the light of it fills the
> horizon."
>
> Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
> J Bryan Krämer
> North Florida, USA
> photos at:
> http://pbase.com/photoburner
>
>
> --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
> multipart/alternative
> text/plain (text body -- kept)
> text/html
> ---
> --
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
> Subscription Services:
> http://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
> List Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
> http://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html
>
More information about the Rockhounds
mailing list