Quantitative analysis by X-ray spectroscopy

Abstract

The previous work of the authors on analysis by X-ray spectroscopy, which was shown to be highly sensitive and capable of general application, has been developed as a method of quantitative analysis. It has been tested in the first place on alloys of elements of nearly equal atomic number with widely varying concentrations, and is found to have an accuracy of about 1 in 200; successful preliminary experiments have been made with alloys of elements of unequal atomic number. It is assumed that the ratio of the number of atoms of two elements in an alloy of metals of nearly equal atomic number is equal to the ratio of the intensities of corresponding lines (say the Kα 1 lines) in the spectra of the elements provided the lines are excited under equivalent conditions. The intensities have been determined photographically, and the great advantages of the photographic method for line intensity measurements are pointed out.