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Glite Dictionary
diffractometer

diffractometer

1 9.9
An instrument that measures how beams of light or tiny particles spread when they pass through a material
  • noun
  • /dɪˌfræktəˈmɒtər/
  • Specialized
: difractómetro
  • The scientist set up the diffractometer to analyze how the crystal structure affected the light patterns generated by the sample.
  • an X-ray diffractometer
  • a ray diffractometer

Examples

  • The XRD data were obtained using a wide-angle X-ray diffractometer with a copper anode at 40 kV and 35 mA.

    Academic text (2017)

  • XRD patterns were recorded with a Philips PW 1800 X-ray diffractometer in the 5-80 degrees range, with a step size of 0.02 and a scanning speed of 0.5 s.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Discover a diffractometer equipped with a general area detector diffraction system (GADDS) as a 2D detector in transmission mode at room temperature.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Using the diffractometer, researchers measured how the laser beams were spread as they passed through the mineral sample.

  • After calibrating the diffractometer, the team was able to obtain precise measurements of how particles scattered when passing through different materials.

How Specialized

diffractometer
  • Specialized
1 9.9
to instrument
  • Specialized
1 7.0
to tool
4 6.9

Surface Forms

diffractometer singular
diffractometers plural

Morphology

diffractometer = diffract (semi-transparent) = diffract + meter

The instrumental suffix '-meter' clearly signals a measuring device, but the technical stem 'diffract' is unlikely to be familiar to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Diffractometer comes from diffract meaning 'break apart' and the ending -meter meaning 'measure', the same -meter in thermometer and speedometer. So a diffractometer is a tool that 'measures' how a beam of light or particles is 'broken apart' or spread when it passes through a material.