Murdochite

Murdochite on Quartz

Wikipedia:  "PbCu6O8−x(Cl,Br)2x(x ≤ 0.5),  It was first discovered in 1953 in the Mammoth-Saint Anthony Mine in Pinal County, Arizona by Percy W. Porter, a mining engineer who handpicked a 401.5-mg sample.  Porter would later submit for analysis and it was then that Fred A. Hildebrand suggested that the sample was a new mineral after taking a powder x-ray picture.  

Murdochite on Quartz

 

It was named for Joseph Murdoch (1890–1973), American mineralogist.  Murdochite was first suggested to be of a cubic structure. After this suggestion, the term “murdochite-type structure” began to be used when describing a structure that is similar to that of murdochite.  Murdochite was later found to be octahedral.  The mineral murdochite is named after Joseph Murdoch, who was once a professor of geology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a past president of the Mineralogical Society of America."

Our Sample comes from Hansonburg Mine District, Socarro, County, New Mexico, USA.  The Field of View in both the above is .73mm.

Murdochite on Quartz

The FOV is 2.25mm

Murdochite on Quartz

 The field of view here is 11mm

Happy Holidays

Carol's Tree 2011

She has always made beautiful trees and this may be one of the best.  I just realized that I have not yet photographed this year's version.  Maybe later.

Fireplace

We would like to wish you all the happiness your life can hold and the best for 2020.

In Defense of "Water Droplet." Why was it rejected?

Water Droplet (water_drop_ms_vv1623_20)

I'm cleaning out my workshop in the basement in an on going fashion.  I came across this one framed in a lovely "glitzy" frame.

 

Framed (water_drop_ms_vv1623_20)

I find myself struggling to understand, "What is wrong with this work?"  It couldn't have been the price.  I asked just $46.80 for it.  I was and still am in love with it.  When I look at it I see a spot in the off center lower left.  I see a light green simple curve moving backward into the the image and I see a background with a fade right to left of a bluish green color.  I see turquoise in there.

 

I finally come back to the spot and look closer.  I see an image in it.  The landscape is upside down in it.  I see the sky and the grass.  I had to use my loop to see the diagonal portion of it.  It was shot on 7-18-11 at Gorman Nature Center. 

It is worth at least a third look and maybe more.  What is wrong with that?  Are pictures on the wall to catch our interest and more importantly our minds?

water_droplet_ms_vv1624_03

This one was shot two days later and has a Field of View of 7.25mm.  It is 3.08x on the sensor.  I like this one better cause the droplet shows the blue sky and greeen grass.  I shows also the sun too.  I like the top one better because of the pleasing overall color.

They demand that we as viewers remember some history:  "
Your homemade microscope is much like the first magnifying devices two Dutch inventors created.
Zacharias Janssen made some of the first eyeglasses in the 1500’s and is credited with inventing the first compound microscope around 1590. Anton van Leeuwenhoek later created microscopes in the 1600’s that could magnify objects more than 270 times."  (from Boys Life Magazine)  Again the image is upside down in the drop just as it is in a camera lens shining an image on the sensor.

Ancient-Microscopes

Thanks to www.visioneng.com for this look at ancient microscopes.

The water droplet above could have been available to man maybe 2000 years ago.  All that was needed was an open wondering mind, observation and experimentation.

Uses for Platinum

Sublimed Platinum

You may remember our discussion of Platinum.  We are down to practical matters now and discussing its uses.  According to Google, "The most important use of platinum is in the catalytic converters in our vehicles which facilitates the complete combustion of unburned hydrocarbons." 

Catalytic Converter

  Also according to Google: "It is used in jewelry, decoration and dental work.  It used to be used in optical discs like c.d.'s, dvd's, and blueray discs."    

  

According to SD Bullion.com: "It is still used in Computer hard disks...

Computer

Hard Disc Drive

...which also contain it in the
magnetic layers.  Hard disc drives
are often now present in TV's, Video game consoles and other home entertainment systems.

Use of platinum has helped reduce the disc size. Platinum applications have also led to improved data-storing capacity"

 

Pearl Harbor Day

Mitsubishi_A6M2_Zero

This aircraft accompanied by twice as many dive/torpedo bombers attacked our Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The attack was a surprise attack so our people were unprepared.  I believe there were around 2400 casualties.  Fortunately our air craft carries were on a mission and were undamaged.

This occured on December 7, 1941 before I was born.  My parents not unlike many young couples of the time were married on Dec. 21, 1941.  I was born eight months before the end of that war and I suppose I have followed it for that reason.

I have watched all the movies about it that I can find.  I will watch Tora, Tora, Tora this year because it is in my opinion the best of them all.  It was a long time ago.  I think that I gain more perspective each time I consider this happening.  Those boys were children and many of them died on the first day of the war.

A Personal Word

My wife, Carol, is feeling badly again and I may not be back for a while.  I will try.  I am writing this on Dec. 2 which means I have one blog ahead at this time.

A Few Words on Sublimation

Matter, such as water, can be in three states: solid, ice; liquid, water; and gas, water vapor.  Most of matter changes state in this or the reverse order.  It does not skip from solid to gas without going through the central stage.  There are, however; some exceptions:  CO2  and Pt for example. The solid state of CO2 is dry ice.  Dry ice skips the central state and goes directly to the gaseous state.  We sometimes receive shipments of food containing dry ice to keep it cold.  You can see it going to vapor directly by the vapor effervescing from it.  My kids used to say it smokes.

Ice, frozen water, melts to its liquid state; water.  If you heat water it will eventually get to its boiling point 212° F.  At that point, steam rises from it and into the air.  The steam is water vapor.

Platinum, like CO2 goes directly from its solid state to its gaseous state.  This characteristic can be used as part of the sublimation process to purify it from its impurities.  During the sublimation process of platinum, is vaporized with heat.  It then solidifies on the cool "cold finger" back to a solid, having been purified in the process.

Sublimation Process

Thanks to Lisa Nichols' article on, Sublimation we have the diagram above.  The nipple on the side of the outer tube is attached to a vacuum pump which lowers the air pressure in the space between the inner and outer test tubes.  This pressure drop expedites the process.  The sublimed platinum is drawn and attached to the cooler "room temperature cold finger" tube.

I've said all this hoping to make what is to a difficult concept to me clear to you whom I assume can understand.

Sublimed Platinum

I think the ridges and valleys are provided to aid in locating the attachment of the sublimed platinum.  This must be the outer surface of the "cold finger tube" in the industrial process of sublimation.  The sample does not provide the location source of the platinum.

Sublimed Platinum

 

Platinum XLS

Platinum XLS

This is "Platinum XLS" which is purified by the sublimation method.  Some might own platinum jewelry since it is a precious metal, an element on the Periodic Table.

Sublimation

The above diagram is shared by the courtesy of Lisa Nichols and Butte Community College.  Credit
I hope that I have handled this properly.  

As I understand from the diagram above, you have two vessals, in this case test tubes.  One is inside the other and open to outside air and called the cold finger.  It has a stopper surrounding its neck with goes inside the outer tube.  The outer tube is vented to a source of air pressure change since we will want to manipulate that during the process.  Heat is applied to the outside of the outer tube.  The substance to be sublimed is in the bottom of the outside tube.  It is heated to a temperature at which it will sublime.  This means that the platinum will vaporize leaving the impurities behind.  It attaches itself to the ouside of the, cooler, inside tube. 

I think I've said enough for today.  I'll try to make it clearer next time and show you more of my platinum sample.

Turkey Day

Wild Turkey Male

Happy Turkey Day, everyone.  Hope your day is the best ever!

Photographing Pentagonite

Photographing Pentagonite

The field of view in this one is 7.74mm.  The cluster of crystals is about 5mm wide.  When I removed them from the capsule.  I wondered how to mount them.  I read about the mineral and found that it was not very hard, 3 - 4, and brittle.  I was afaid to handle it for fear of breaking it.  I'm fairly shaky this days but I succeeded.

Pentagonite

I removed it from the capsule and finally decided to mount it on a piece of glossy photographic paper.  I placed a drop of super glue on the paper and set the cluster in the middle of it.  

Mounting Pentagonite

I could then crease the paper and use it attached to the alligator clip.

Mounting Pentagonite

I wanted frame filling but not frame bursting.  I had  to look for a less powerful combination of lenses.  The one at the top was the outcome of less power but it also cut of the top of the central cyrstal.  I set it on a canvas that extended beyond the limits of the edge and drew the top of that crystal.  The results are shown in the image at the top.  With the less powerful configuration, Sigma 105 mounted on 136mm of extention I was able to achieve this one.

Pentagonite

 I consider it the most successful.  The superglue did show a little at the bottom and I cleaned it up.  I wanted it to show so that the image would be grounded.

Pentagonite

Pentagonite

Ca(VO)Si4O10 · 4(H2O)

This is Pentagonite, emphasis on "tag."  It is collected for its rarity.  This sample comes from Wagholi Puna, India.  To my knowledge, this is one of only two locations in the World where it is found.  The other place, the "type location":  Owyhee Dam, Lake Owyhee State Park, Malheur Co., Oregon, USA. It was discovered in the fall of 1960. Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Perrigo of Fruitland, Idaho found a blue mineral partly coating a large rock in a new roadcut near Owyhee Dam, Malheur County, Oregon.  Nice find for a beautiful fall tree color walk!

Pentagonite

I came to me in the capsule and tray shown above.  I'll share the challengs to me in photographing it next time.

Photographing Elemental Silver III

Elemental Silver

How do I know this is Elemental Silver?  Don Smolley, a dealer at the Richland Lithic and Lapdary Show held in June each told me so.  I'm impressed that he would know because he tells me about the travels he makes while looking for samples.  I've never discovered his ID to be wrong.

As I write, it is 11:51AM on Saturday, 11-9-19.  The buckeyes play Maryland at 12:00PM on TV.  I must wait until 1:00PM to watch so that I can avoid watching all the commercials.  I normally eat my lunch at 11:00AM but I want to wait until 1:00PM to eat my lunch.  I have a bath at 2:00PM.  I can't seem to live without a schedule.  Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm listening to Pat Matheney Group's album "The Road to You."  It's jazz and my friend Jim told me about this group.

These samples are mounted on a black piece of Matte in an area about 1 inch square.  You can start to see the challenge, I am sure.  To the best of my knowledge, they don't make zoom lenses for photomicrogrophy.

Elemental Silver

 All these samples come from Bulldog Mtn., Creede Colorado.  This one looks like a tree or a leaf to me.  The FOV, field of view, here is 2.25mm.  My point is that it is a bit of challenge to decide the lens combination with which to photograph to obtain a frame filling image.  In photographing the samples on the card at the top I used five different lens combinations.

Elemental Silver

   I think you have seen this one.  FOV 2.25mm

Elemental Silver

I've discussed this one before in this series.  FOV 2.25mm.

Elemental Silver

The FOV of this one is 4.5mm.

Elemental Silver

FOV 2.25mm

 

Elemental Silver

FOV 1.5mm

 

Elemental Silver

FOV 0.73mm

 

                  

Elemental Silver

FOV 1.5mm

Elemental Silver

FOV 0.73mm