A crystal of beryl fragments a beam of x-rays

Like the revolving mirrored ball that reflects a spotlight on a dance floor, a crystal of beryl fragments a beam of x-rays. The narrow beam was projected through the beryl, and the black spots reflect the regular lattice of atoms within the crystal. This technique of x-ray diffraction is used to work out the atomic structure of different elements. A similar technique was used to decode the double-helix spiral of DNA molecules

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Crystallography Diffraction Rays X Ray X Rays X-ray X-rays Xray Xrays

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