This document provides an overview of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and its applications. It discusses how XRD works, including Bragg's Law, and how diffraction patterns can provide structural information about crystalline materials. A key application was solving the double-helix structure of DNA - Rosalind Franklin obtained a diffraction pattern (Photo 51) that revealed the helical structure, which Watson and Crick then used to develop their molecular model. XRD continues to be widely used today to determine atomic structures of materials and in fields like biochemistry, solid-state physics, and medicine.

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X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
Presented By : Sagar Kumar Assigned By : Prof Dr. Shahbuddin Memon

3. Content:
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Introduction
Historical Perspective
How XRD Works
Analyzing a Diffraction Pattern
Solving DNA
Application
Summary And Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Reference

4. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
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5. X-Rays
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6. Introduction
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 Motivation:
 X-ray diffraction is used to obtain structural information about
crystalline solids.
 Useful in biochemistry to solve the 3D structures of complex
biomolecules.
 Bridge the gaps between physics, chemistry and biology.
 X-ray diffraction is important for:
 Solid-state physics
 Biophysics
 Medical physics
 Chemistry and Biochemistry.

7. History of X-Ray Diffraction
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1895 X-rays discovered by Roentgen
1914 First diffraction pattern of a crystal
made by Knipping and von Laue
1915 Theory to determine crystal structure
from diffraction pattern developed by Bragg.
1953 DNA structure solved by Watson and
Crick
Now Diffraction improved by computer
technology; methods used to determine
atomic structures and in medical applications

8. How Diffraction Works
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Wave Interacting with a Single Particle
 Incident beams scattered uniformly in all
directions
Wave Interacting with a Solid
 Scattered beams interfere constructively in some
directions, producing diffracted beams
 Random arrangements cause beams to randomly
interfere and no distinctive pattern is produced
Crystalline Material
 Regular pattern of crystalline atoms produces
regular diffraction pattern.
 Diffraction pattern gives information on crystal
structure

9. How Diffraction Works: Bragg’s Law
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 Crystalline substances (e.g. minerals) consist of parallel rows of
atoms separated by a ‘unique’ distance
 Diffraction occurs when radiation enters a crystalline substance
and is scattered
 Direction and intensity of diffraction depends on orientation of
crystal lattice with radiation
nl=2dsin(Q)

10. Schematic X-Ray Diffractometer
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X-Ray
Source
Powdered
sample
Detector

11. Sample XRD Pattern
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background radiation
strong intensity = prominent crystal
planeweak intensity = subordinate crystal plane

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Determine D-Spacing from XRD Patterns
Bragg’s Law
nλ = 2dsinθ
 n = reflection order (1,2,3,4,etc…)
 λ = radiation wavelength (1.54 angstroms)
 d = spacing between planes of atoms (angstroms)
 θ = angle of incidence (degrees)

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background radiation
strong intensity = prominent crystal plane
nλ = 2dsinθ
(1)(1.54) = 2dsin(15.5 degrees)
1.54 = 2d(0.267)
d = 2.88 angstroms

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d-spacing Intensity
2.88 100
2.18 46
1.81 31
1.94 25
2.10 20
1.75 15
2.33 10
2.01 10
1.66 5
1.71 5

16. Factors that affect XRD data
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 Sample not powdered fine enough
 May not give all d-spacing data (not random
enough)
 Analysis too fast (degrees/minute)
 May not give accurate peak data
 Mixture of minerals??
 Not crystalline – glass!!

17. Mixture of 2
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18. How Diffraction Works: Schematic:
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19. How Diffraction Works: Schematic:
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20. Analyzing Diffraction Patterns
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 Data is taken from a full range of angles
 For simple crystal structures, diffraction patterns are
easily recognizable
 Phase Problem
 Only intensities of diffracted beams are measured
 Phase info is lost and must be inferred from data
 For complicated structures, diffraction patterns at
each angle can be used to produce a 3-D electron
density map

21. Analyzing Diffraction Patterns
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nl=2dsin(Q)

22. Solving the Structure of DNA: History
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 Rosalind Franklin- physical
chemist and x-ray
crystallographer who first
crystallized and photographed
BDNA
 Maurice Wilkins- collaborator of
Franklin
 Watson & Crick- chemists who
combined the information from
Photo 51 with molecular
modeling to solve the structure
of DNA in 1953
Rosalind Franklin

23. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Photo 51 Analysis
 “X” pattern
characteristic of helix
 Diamond shapes
indicate long,
extended molecules
 Smear spacing
reveals distance
between repeating
structures
 Missing smears
indicate interference
from second helix.
Photo 51- The x-ray diffraction image that
allowed Watson and Crick to solve the
structure of DNA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

24. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Photo 51 Analysis
 “X” pattern
characteristic of helix
 Diamond shapes
indicate long,
extended molecules
 Smear spacing
reveals distance
between repeating
structures
 Missing smears
indicate interference
from second helix.
Photo 51- The x-ray diffraction image that
allowed Watson and Crick to solve the
structure of DNA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

25. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Photo 51 Analysis
 “X” pattern
characteristic of helix
 Diamond shapes
indicate long,
extended molecules
 Smear spacing
reveals distance
between repeating
structures
 Missing smears
indicate interference
from second helix.
Photo 51- The x-ray diffraction image that
allowed Watson and Crick to solve the
structure of DNA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

26. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Photo 51 Analysis
 “X” pattern
characteristic of helix
 Diamond shapes
indicate long,
extended molecules
 Smear spacing
reveals distance
between repeating
structures
 Missing smears
indicate interference
from second helix.
Photo 51- The x-ray diffraction image that
allowed Watson and Crick to solve the
structure of DNA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

27. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Photo 51 Analysis
 “X” pattern
characteristic of helix
 Diamond shapes
indicate long,
extended molecules
 Smear spacing
reveals distance
between repeating
structures
 Missing smears
indicate interference
from second helix.
Photo 51- The x-ray diffraction image that
allowed Watson and Crick to solve the
structure of DNA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

28. Solving the Structure of DNA
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 Information Gained from Photo 51
 Double Helix
 Radius: 10 angstroms
 Distance between bases: 3.4 angstroms
 Distance per n: 34 angstroms
 Combining Data with Other Information
 DNA made from:
sugar
phosphates
4 nucleotides (A,C,G,T)
 Chargaff’s Rules
 %A=%T
 %G=%C
 Molecular Modeling
Watson and Crick’s model

29. Applications of X-Ray Diffraction
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Convenient three letter acronym: XRD
Distinguish between different crystal
structures with identical compositions
Find structure to determine function of
proteins
Study crystal deformation and stress
properties
Study of rapid biological and chemical
processes
…and much more!

30. Summary and Conclusions
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 X-ray diffraction is a technique for analyzing structures of
biological molecules
 X-ray beam hits a crystal, scattering the beam in a manner
characterized by the atomic structure
 Even complex structures can be analyzed by x-ray
diffraction, such as DNA and proteins
 This will provide useful in the future for combining
knowledge from physics, chemistry, and biology.

31. References
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www.matter.org.uk/diffraction
www.embo.or/projects/scisoc/download/TW02weiss.pdf
www.branta.connectfree.co.uk/x-ray_diffraction.htm
www.xraydiffrac.com/xrd.htm
www.samford.edu/~gekeller/casey.html
neon.mems.cmu.edu/xray/Introduction.html
www.omega.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/ray/dna/franklin.htm
mrsec.wisc.edu/edetc/modules/xray/X-raystm.pdf
Exploring the Nanoworld
www.eserc.stonybrook.edu/ProjectJava/Bragg/
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51

32. Acknowledgement
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I am very much Thankful To Allah Almighty for blessing me to
this honor to present my presentation in front of you
I am pretty much Thankful my kind parents for their soulful
support
Lastly I am very glade to pay much gratitude to our humble Pro.
Dr. Shahbuddin Memon for his wonderful support that enthused
us for this presentation

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