1. Introduction

 

Introduction

Why is X-ray crystallography so important in field of geology? X-ray crystallography is one of the tools that helped the field of Geology to nourish so that it could be one of the fields that could actually be scientific. In the past people, thought that geology is the field of studying minerals, rocks, and maps, which is a field that is not a quantitatively exact science but closer to liberal arts. Before some of the greatest achievements, observations, and inventions were made, geology was not a popular field. The emergence of X-ray crystallography opened the field of geophysics.

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Figure 1. Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist, making fun of geology, in the TV show Big Bang Theory

X-ray crystallography has made the techniques more precise and detailed to study mineralogy, which is one of the essential field which geologists usually study. It is a tool used for determining atomic and molecular structure of crystal. The main idea of X-ray crystallography is using X-ray and Bragg’s law to solve crystal structures. If there is an incident beam X-ray which is shot to the crystal, the X-rays diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, scientists are able to produce a three-dimensional picture of the density of electrons in the crystal. From the results, the mean position of the atoms, chemical bonds and disorders in the crystal can be determined, as well as other various information. This is one of the greatest achievements that was made during Bragg’s time. Bragg is the inventor of X-ray crystallography who received Nobel Prize with this specific contribution. X-ray crystallography has been fundamental in the development of many scientific fields. With the advanced technologies in modern days, X-ray crystallography is being used more and more different fields; they include geology, chemistry, biology, physics and material science which will be later discussed in the last section. Without X-ray crystallography, it would have been impossible for humans to develop knowledge and technology to the current level.

Bragg's Law

Figure 2. Bragg’s Law