Better Living Through Minerals: X-Ray Diffraction of Household Products

Barb Dutrow

Louisiana State University

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Activities collection and has been reviewed by 1 other review process (view details)

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Exemplary Teaching Collection

Resources in this top level collection a) must have scored Exemplary or Very Good in all five review categories, and must also rate as "Exemplary" in at least three of the five categories. The five categories included in the peer review process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.
This activity was peer reviewed prior to publication in the Teaching Mineralogy Workbook.

This teaching activity was originally published in: Brady, J., Mogk, D. W., and Perkins, D., (editors), 1997, "Teaching Mineralogy," a workbook published by the Mineralogical Society of America, 406 pp. All teaching activities in this volume received two external peer reviews from mineralogy faculty focused on content and pedagogy, and a final review by the co-editors to comply with the publication standards of the Mineralogical Society of America.

Initial Publication Date: May 9, 2008 | Reviewed: January 19, 2015 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

X-ray diffraction is a quick and valuable tool for identifying minerals. Minerals are an integral portion of our everyday life, in addition to composing our planet! They help bring electricity into our homes and remove our bathtub rings. In this lab, students analyze the X-ray diffraction patterns of three household cleansers, Ajax, White Magic, and Soft Scrub, in order to identify the abrasive minerals in each.

Crystallography, X-ray Techniques, Geology | College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)

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Context

Audience

This activity is designed for an undergraduate required course in mineralogy and is generally for sophomore or junior level students.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students should be familiar with XRD as a technique and how to analyze XRD data.

How the activity is situated in the course

This activity is a stand-alone exercise, but is part of a larger volume of classroom and laboratory activities from "Teaching Mineralogy," a workbook published by the Mineralogical Society of America, Brady, J., Mogk, D. W., and Perkins, D., (editors), 1997,406 pp.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

This activity should aid students in using XRD as a technique to identify minerals in common household products. It should strengthen their ability to read XRD data output.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

This activity aids students' ability to read and analyze data.

Other skills goals for this activity

This activity should strengthen a student's ability to operate analytical equipment and to synthesize ideas from data and write them in a laboratory report.

Description of the activity/assignment

Determining whether students have met the goals

Students have met the goals of this activity if they answer the questions at the end of the exercise completely and accurately.

More information about assessment tools and techniques.

Teaching materials and tips

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Other Materials

Assignment description, handouts, and instructor's notes. (Microsoft Word 22kB May9 08)

Assignment description, handouts, and instructor's notes. (Acrobat (PDF) 41kB May9 08)

XRD for Ajax (TIFF 5.9MB Nov15 10)

XRD for Soft Scrub (TIFF 6.4MB Nov15 10)

XRD for White Magic (TIFF 5.8MB Nov15 10)

Supporting references/URLs

Brady, J., Mogk, D. W., and Perkins, D., (editors), 1997, Teaching Mineralogy, a workbook published by the Mineralogical Society of America, 406 pp.

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