A Method for Obtaining Powders of Uniform Sodium Chloride Crystals in Various Size Ranges, and the Effect of Size upon the Intensity of X-Ray Reflection

Abstract

I. A technique is presented for precipitating powders of sodium chloride crystals, uniform in size and cubical in shape, in various size ranges from 1 to 70 microns, above which the range could be extended by screening. The crystals are prepared by precipitation with absolute ethyl alcohol from a saturated solution of sodium chloride in water, but varying excess quantities of water are added to either of the solutions before combining them. Control of size range, and of crystal uniformity within a size range, is accomplished by careful attention to certain primary variables in the precipitation process, each of which produces marked changes in the character of the powder obtained. These are discussed, and a simplified procedure is presented for producing any desired size. II. This technique was developed to make possible a study of the variation of intensity of x-ray lines reflected from such size-graded powders. The 200-reflection of $\mathrm{Cu} K\ensuremath{\alpha}$ radiation has been investigated, and a curve is shown for the variation of intensity with crystal size. The intensity decreases slightly with increase of crystal size, according to a curve which indicates that the crystals are imperfect but are more perfect than large single crystals.