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By Thomas A. Hendricks

The object of this paper is to give a brief description of the coals in the different districts of Arkansas and Oklahoma, their present commercial classification, and the need for a scientific classification that shall be more nearly in accord with their physical and chemical properties and shall place them in their proper position in a general scheme of classification. The paper is based on two seasons of field work in the Oklahoma coal field in 1930 and 1931 and on several weeks spent in visiting most of the operating mines in Arkansas in the same years. Most of the productive districts of the Arkansas-Oklahoma coal field lie in an east-west trending belt immediately north of the Ouachita Mountains, but the northwestern districts in Oklahoma trend northward toward Kansas. With the exception of the Muskogee district, where very little coal has been mined, the coal beds of the last-mentioned districts are all younger than those of the districts in the east-west trending belt. Description of the Coal by Districts Lehigh District, Oklahoma (5).1—In the Lehigh district mining has been extensive, but only three or four mines are operating at the present time. Two coal beds of workable thickness, Atoka and Lehigh, are known in this field. The greater part of the mining has been in the Lehigh, or younger bed, and all analyses available for the field have been of that coal. The Lehigh coal is very tough and blocky, the moisture and ash contents are fairly high, 6.5 and 10.7 per cent respectively, the volatile content is 39.5 per cent, fixed carbon 43.4 per cent, B.t.u. value 11,525, and the fuel ratio 1.1 (average 15 analyses). So far as the writer has been able to ascertain, laboratory attempts to coke this coal have been unsuccessful and no attempt has been made to produce coke commercially. Tulsa District, Oklahoma (l).—All commercial mining in the Tulsa district has been by stripping from the Dawson bed, and production has never been very great. The coal is blocky, contains 6.5 per cent moisture, 36.8 per cent volatile matter, 48.4 per cent fixed carbon, and 8.3 per cent

Jan 1, 1932

By J. Blodget Britton

SIX different samples of anthracite, each a firm compact lump, were finely pulverized and immediately put in bottles. Portions of these were weighed and placed upon an ordinary water-bath and dried for one hour; the average loss was 1.24. The same portions were then placed in a hot-air oven, and for two hours kept at a temperature of 285' F., and, after cooling in a dry chamber, were again weighed, when there was found a further average loss of 1.22, making a total so far of 2.46. They were then immediately returned to the oven and for two hours more kept at a temperature of 530' F. and cooled and weighed again, when no further loss was found, but an average gain of .55 upon the previous weighing. The same portions were a third time placed in the oven and for about ten minutes kept at the last-mentioned temperature, and then, while still hot, were poured into one-quarter inch glass tubes, each with a bulb at one end, and heated over a Bunsen burner at a temperature below a red heat, when more water vaporized and condensed in small clear globules on the cold parts of the tubes. Fresh portions of the coals were then taken, and the total amount of water determined, and the average was found to be 3.04, or 1.80 more than was found at the temperature of the water-bath, which was perhaps a little below 212' F., and .58 more than at 285' F. Tests were afterwards made by placing other fresh portions of the

By J. Blodget Britton

Six different samples of anthracite, each a firm compact lump, were finely pulverized and immediately put in bottles. Portions of these were weighed and placed upon an ordinary water-bath and dried for one hour; the average loss was 1.24. The same portions were then placed in a hot-air oven, and for two hours kept at a temperature of 285° F., and, after cooling in a dry chamber, were again weighed, when there was found a further average loss of 1.22, making a total so far of 2.46. They were then immediately returned to the oven and for two hours more kept at a temperature of 530° F. and cooled and weighed again, when no further loss was found, but an average gain of .55 upon the previous weighing. The same portions were a third time placed in the oven and for about ten minutes kept at the last-mentioned temperature, and then, while still hot, were poured into one-quarter inch glass tubes, each with a bulb at one end, and heated over a Bunsen burner at a temperature below a red heat, when more water vaporized and condensed in small clear globules on the cold parts of the tubes. Fresh portions of the coals were then taken, and the total amount of water determined, and the average was found to be 3.04, or 1.80 more than was found at the temperature of the water-bath, which was perhaps a little below 212° F., and .58 more than at 285° F. Tests were afterwards made by placing other fresh portions of the

Jan 1, 1877

By M. L. Fuller

DURING the last several years many papers have appeared dealing with the structure of highly polished metal surfaces. The awakening of interest in this subject is due to the applicability of the electron diffrac-tion technique to the study of surfaces. The original theory of Beilby1 considered the surface of polished metals as of the nature of a super-cooled liquid or a vitreous, amorphous solid. The electron diffraction effects from polished metals have been interpreted by many to be a direct experimental proof of the correctness of the Beilby theory. This inter-pretation has been strongly opposed by others, so that at the present time the subject is in an uncertain and controversial state. In the present paper new, and hitherto unpublished, electron diffrac-tion effects from polished zinc are described. These observations indicate that the polished surface of zinc is crystalline.

Jan 1, 1938

By G. B. WATERHOUSE

THE year 1929 was exceedingly busy and prosperous for the iron and steel industry in the United States. The lake shipments of ore were approximately 65,000,000 tons, steel ingots produced were about 57,000,000 tons. Plants were very active. operating for many months well over their rated capacity, slowing down during the last quarter following the severe break in the stock market. The ore tonnage mentioned above was the greatest ever shipped by lake from the Lake Superior region. The trend at the ore mines has been to supplement manual labor by mechanical appliances as much as possible. Mining methods have been greatly improved along the lines of safety as well as to increase the percentage of ore recovery. Crushing and grading of iron ores continued to gain in popularity inasmuch as remarkable blast-furnace operations and records were obtained with sizing and uniformity of raw materials. Progress was made along other lines. The Bradley process for the separation of manganese osicle and iron oside from siliceous manganiferous iron ore was cleuelopecl; also considerable work was clone on a process for the beneficiation of the Cuban laterite ores. Sintering of ores and concentrates increased in popularity. A new analytical method for the deter- mination of sulfur in iron ore was worked out which reduced the time required appreciably. The ore re- serves of the Lake Superior district continued to receive considerable attention and played an important part in the recent mergers which have taken place in the iron ancl steel industry.

Jan 1, 1930

By G. O. Hiers

THE object of the experiments reported in this paper is to determine the eutectic composition of copper and tin and to determine the location of the part of the liquidus line immediately above the eutectic composition in copper. Three methods were used in the investigation: (1) the method of dissolving copper in a bath of molten tin at constant temperature, with the idea that when the bath was saturated with copper its copper content, by analysis, together with the temperature at which the saturation took place would locate a point on the liquidus line (2) the method of the differential cooling curves, and (3) the method of microscopic examination. This paper is principally concerned with the results of the last two methods mentioned. The results of the first method, that of dissolving copper in molten tin, did not agree with the .results of Miller,1 by the same method, nor with the results of other investigators by other methods, nor yet with the results of the cooling-¬curve experiments and microscopic examination reported here.

Jan 1, 1929

By B. M. Burchfiel

CALIFORNIA possesses such an abundance of ceramic materials other than clays, that she is quite independent of other states and foreign countries so far as these materials are concerned. Certain users import some feldspar, silica, and allied minerals, but they do so from choice and not necessity. Production is largely for home consumption, so the total volume of ceramic materials produced is comparatively small. Many small deposits of the materials here under discussion are worked by individuals, and their output sold to individual grinding companies or users. The data given here shall be confined to the larger deposits and developments because they give a truer picture of typical deposits, operations, and materials.

Jan 1, 1936

By FREDERICK W. BRADLEY

MINING methods are evolved rather than devised; and the process is slow. The advance in no particular year is phenomenal, but progress is un- questionably being made constantly in several directions: (a) better adaptation to given conditions of various "systems" of mining; (b) better utilization of mechanical equipment ; (c) improvement in working conditions so as to promote the health, safety and efficiency of the workers. During the year 1930 operations were commenced at a number of important new mines. Methods adopted are not new, except in minor detail, but the fitting of methods to conditions is interesting, because, as the engineers presumably started from scratch, they have selected the methods that experience under similar conditions has indicated as being the best.

Jan 1, 1931

By William Mikulas Lars Thomassen, Clair Upthegrove

Little work has been done in the field of the nickel-tin binary system. The complete diagram has been investigated on two occasions, but the results are in very poor agreement. The structure of a compound NiSn and the solubility of tin in nickel have been determined by X-ray methods. Several investigations have been made of the liquidus curve, and the compositions of the eutectics have been determined. A study of the literature, however, shows that there is no satisfactory agreement between the data presented in the various papers. The present investigation was undertaken in an attempt to determine the equilibrium conditions, and to correlate X-ray with metallographic data. The equilibrium diagram was determined by thermal and metallographic means, and the solubility of tin in nickel further investigated with X-rays. Powder diagrams were made of the intermetallic compounds, and three of the structures were partly determined. NO attempt was made to determine the range of homogeneity of the intermetallic compounds. Review of the Literature Vigorouxl prepared alloys of tin and nickel containing 74 and 92 per cent of tin. By treating these alloys with very dilute nitric acid or with sodium hydroxide he was able to separate residues, both of which analyzed 66.7 per cent tin. This corresponds to the compound NiSn and was reported as such. Guillet2 made the first investigation of the complete binary diagram Fig 1) The maximum point of the liquidus is at 43.5 per cent nickel. Several solid solution areas were found, and the compound NiSn was included on the strength of Vigoroux's work. The investigation was

Jan 1, 1937

By K. P. Gupta, A. K. Pal, L. Chandrasekaran, U. P. Singh

The Mn-Sn binary system, investigated at the high-manganese end and between 500° and 1000° C, shows four phases at temperatures below 727"C, namely the u Mn, the p Mn, the Mn3 Sn, and the Mn, Sn phases, while at higher temperatures only the last three phases remain stable. The solubility of tin in a Mn is very small and the maximum solubility of tin in P Mn phase appears to be abollt 10 at. pct Sn. The solubility range of the Mn,Sn and the Mn, Sn phases is 23.0 to 26.0 and 37.0 to 40.0 at. pct Sn, respectively. The lattice parameter of the 13 Mn phase increases with increasing tin content. The Mn, Sn thase is hexagonal with and appears to be basically of the Ni3 Sn type structure except that for quite a few X-ray diffraction lines the calculated and observed relative intensities do not agree well. The Mn-Sn binary system has been studied by several investigators.''~ Their results indicate that three intermediate phases, namely, the Mn3Sn, Mn,Sn, and MnSn, phases, exist at high concentrations of tin. However, so far the proper phase equilibrium has not been established at the manganese-rich end and very little data is available for the composition range between pure manganese and Mn3Sn. Moreover, earlier investigators differ in their opinion about the exact composition range at which the Mn3Sn and Mn,Sn phases appear and some doubt has been cast by some investigators3 regarding the structure of Mn3Sn phase which has been reported to be isotypic with Ni3Sn (Mgscd type) structure. In this investigation an attempt has been made to establish the proper phase equilibrium between pure manganese and Mn + 50 at. pct Sn composition in the temperature range of 500" to 1000°C. PROCEDURE The raw materials used were from three different sources. For exploratory work five alloys containing 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 at. pct Sn were prepared using 99.9 pct pure manganese and tin supplied by E. Merck & Co., Germany. The rest of the alloys and one more 25 at. pct Sn alloy were prepared using 99.9 pct Mn supplied by Gallard Schlesinger Chemical Mfg. Corp., U.S.A., and 99.999 pct Sn supplied by Semi Elements Inc., U.S.A. Weighed amounts of manganese and tin were melted in recrystallized alumina crucibles in an inert gas (argon) high-frequency induction melting furnace. By careful control of temperature and time of melting the losses were reduced to below 0.2 pct in all cases. Since the losses were very small, no attempt was made here to analyze the samples chemically. Alloys were wrapped in molybdenum foil and sealed in small evacuated fused silica capsules. The alloys were annealed at different temperatures, controlled within + l°C, for sufficiently long periods to attain proper phase equilibrium, and subsequently quenched in cold tap water. The annealing periods used at different temperatures were 15 days at 500°C, 7 days at 600°C, 5 days at 700" and 750°C, 3 days at 800°, 850°, and 900°C, 2 days at 968"C, and two alloys annealed at 968°C were reannealed for 10 hr at 1000° C. From each annealed specimen, a part was utilized for metallographic study while another piece was used for X-ray diffraction study. 1.0 pct HNO, solution and oxalic acid solutions of concentrations 0.05 to 1.0 pct were used for etching Mn-Sn alloys above and below the MnsSn composition, respectively. Since all alloys were brittle, X-ray specimens were prepared using the as-crushed -325 mesh alloy powders. Only one 25 at. pct Sn alloy powder was reannealed in an evacuated silica capsule at 800°C for 5 min and water-quenched. X-ray diffraction patterns . for the Mn3Sn phase with the as-crushed and the reannealed powders did not show appreciable change. Un-filtered iron radiation at 25 kv, 15 ma was used with either Norelco 114.6-mm-diam Debye Scherrer Camera (for phase identification) or Norelco 12-cm-diam symmetrical focusing camera (for lattice parameter determination of the 6 Mn phase). The estimated accuracy of lattice parameter determination for the focusing camera was * 0.001A. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The results of metallographic and X-ray diffraction study made with different alloys are shown in Fig. 1. The variations in lattice parameter with composition for the p Mn and the Mn3Sn phases are given in Tables I and 11, respectively, and the lattice parameter as a function of composition for the p Mn phase is shown in Fig. 2. The lattice parameter of the p Mn phase increases with increasing tin content while for the Mn,Sn phase the data obtained from two two-phase alloys and one single-phase alloy indicate increase in a,, and decrease in c, parameters with increasing tin content. The results, Fig. 1, indicate that the solubility of

Jan 1, 1969

By George W. Maynard

In the course of an examination of some of the California hydraulic mines in November last, I visited the property of the Gold Run Ditch and Mining Company, near Dutch Flat, Placer County. This is one of the most important and extensively worked mines in the district. The gold occurs in the characteristic blue gravel, which averages 175 feet in thickness, the lower 40-60 feet being made rip of cement gravel, which resists the action of water, and can only he loosened by blasting. The specimen which I have the pleasure of laying before the members was presented to me by Mr. I. L. Gould, the intelligent superintendent of the mines, who informs me that he found it in the old river channel, about twelve feet above the bedrock. The flattened water-worn nugget of gold, about the size of a kidney-bean, is imbedded in blue cement gravel, around which quartz has crystallized. When found the projecting portion of the nugget was enveloped in quartz, the core of gravel and gold having only been discovered after breaking the lump of quartz. On the quartz there is a shell of cement. The specimen is a remarkable confirmation of the theory of the deposition of quartz from solution. DISCUSSION. Dr. T. STERRY HUNT, in commenting upon this occurrence, remarked that it is in accordance with what we already know of the recency of some of the quartz of this region, and cited the microscopic

Jan 1, 1880

By George W. Maynard

IN the course of an examination of some of the California hydraulie mines in November last, I visited the property of the Gold Run Ditch and Mining Company, near Dutch Flat, Placer County. This is one of the most important and extensively worked mines in the district. The gold occurs in the characteristic blue gravel, which averages 175 feet in thickness, the lower 40-60 feet being made tip of cement gravel, which resists the action of water, and can only be loosened by blasting. The specimen which I have the pleasure of laying before the members was presented to me by Mr. I. L. Gould, the intelligent superintendent of the mines, who informs me that he found it in the old river channel, about twelve feet above the bedrock. The flattened water-worn nugget of gold, about the size of a kidney-bean, is imbedded in blue cement gravel, around which quartz has crystallized. When found the projecting portion of the nugget was enveloped in quartz, the core of gravel and gold having only been discovered after breaking the lump of quartz. On the quartz there is a shell of cement. The specimen is a remarkable confirmation of the theory of the deposition of quartz from solution. DISCUSSION. DR. T. STERRY HUNT, in commenting upon this occurrence, remarked that it is in accordance with what we already know of the recency of some of the quartz of this region, and cited the microscopic

Jan 1, 1880

By M. Schwartz, S. K. Nash, R. Zeman

Knoop hardness in the rolling plane and in the longitudinal plane of hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets of sublimed magnesiu?w was measured as a function of the angle between the long axis of the indenter and the rolling direction. These measurements were correlated with similar data taken on the (0001) and (1010) planes of a single crystal of magnesium where the hardness was measured as a function of the angle between the long axis of the indenter and the [1120] direction. The results were analyzed for compliance with the hypothesis of Daniels and Dunm to account for slip, and with a similar hypothesis to account for twinning. Some hardness anisotropy data are also presented for magnesium-indium and magnesium-lithium solid solution alloys. It is well known that the hardness of a crystalline specimen is different for its different surfaces, and also that the hardness is a function of direction within a single surface. Variations in hardness for single crystals have been found to be much larger than those for polycrystalline materials. Also, materials having low crystal symmetry were found to have a greater anisotropy of hardness than those of high symmetry. 0'Neill1 and Pfeil,2 using a 1-mm Brine11 ball, studied single crystals of aluminum and iron, respectively; and they found a variation of hardness of about 10 pct between readings taken along the principal crystallographic faces. Daniels and Dunn3 found that the Knoop hardness number varied about 25 pct as the long axis of the indenter rotated on the basal plane of a zinc single crystal. The variation on the (1450) plane was about 100 pct, and the average hardness on this plane was about twice that of the basal plane. They also studied the variation of hardness within the (loo), (110), and (111) faces of a single crystal of silicon ferrite and found variations of about 25 pct although the average values for these planes were almost identical. Single crystals of zinc were also studied by Meincke.4 He found that the Vickers hardness numbers varied about 30 pct depending on whether the axis of the indenter was parallel or perpendicular to the (1010) and (1110) planes. Mott and Ford,5 using a Knoop indenter, found a 25 pct variation in hardness on the basal plane of zinc. Crow and Hinsley6 studied heavily cold-rolled bronze, steel, brass, copper, and other metals. They found that the difference in hardness numbers based on the difference in the length of the diagonals of the Vickers indenter was from 5 to 12 pct. Some minerals and synthetic stones show a very large anisotropy of hardness. Robertson and Van Meter7 found the Vickers hardness of arsenopyrite to vary from 633 to 1148 kg per mm2. stern8 using the double-cone method on synthetic corundum found the hardness number to vary from 950 to 2070. And winchell9 reported a variation of hardness number from 184 to 1205 in kyanite. The variation of hardness as a function of direction in a given crystallographic plane in single crystals possesses a periodicity which is related to the symmetry of the lattice. Daniels and Dunn3 found a six-fold periodicity of hardness in the (0001) plane of zinc. They found that the hardness curves of silicon ferrite had a four-fold symmetry in the (100) plane, a two-fold symmetry in the (110) plane, and a six-fold symmetry in the (111) plane. Mott and Ford5 also reported a six-fold symmetry of hardness in the basal plane of zinc. And vacher10 found two-, four-, and six-fold periodicities of hardness in copper on the (110), (100), and (111) planes, respectively. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an investigation on the anisotropy of hardness as a function of orientation in single crystals of mannes-ium, and samples of rolled magnesium, magnesium-indium, and magnesium-lithium solid solution alloys. The anisotropy of hardness of pure magnesium which had been hot rolled, and then cold rolled various amounts to fracture, was studied by means of Knoop indentation hardness numbers; and the results were correlated with the preferred orientation as determined by quantitative X-ray pole-figure data. A comparison was made of the hardness data obtained from the rolled sheets and those of single crystals of magnesium. In order to obtain a more fundamental understanding of the variation of hardness and of Knoop hardness testing, the data were analyzed by

Jan 1, 1962

By Ingvar Janelid

DURING the last ten years, in the effort to save manpower and costs, methods of drilling and blasting in Sweden have changed and developed in a revolutionary manner. These developments have been accompanied by extensive alterations in methods of tunneling and in mining technique. Since the end of the 1940's there has been a 100 pct change-over in Sweden to the use of tungsten carbide tipped drill steel. Both investigations and practical results have shown clearly that a tungsten carbide chisel bit fastened directly on the drill steel is the most economical for Swedish conditions. This applies to drill steel up to the longest size it is practical to handle. In terms of drilling footage, durability of the drill steel and the tungsten carbide bit is generally the same. In this respect, therefore, a detachable bit offers no advantage over integral steel. Transportation of integral steel to the grinding plant, instead of detachable bits only, involves heavier work, but this is counteracted by placing grinding plants closer together or by grinding at the working place itself. The drilling rate with integral steel is higher, the trouble of changing bits is avoided, and the difficulties which always arise with joints are eliminated.

Jan 6, 1954

By John V. Beall

With some difficulty we framed the picture of the village on the mountain getting in the railroad bridge and tunnel at the base. It was a charming scene of red-tile roofs on a green mountain in the golden autumn sunshine with the black hole of the railroad tunnel looking like something out of the movie, "The Train." We clicked the shutter, advanced the film and started back to our rented Audi. At which point there was a hail from the other side of the railroad bridge. A man in uniform was brandishing an object in the air which looked suspiciously like a rifle. We peered around. We were the only other persons in view. He must be yelling at us. He was now closing the distance at a brisk, determined gait but was still 100 yards away. The car was handy but the road was straight, paralleling the railroad tracks for some distance. We dismissed the idea of running for it. Who knows, he might shoot. When he came up we didn't have much of a conversation because it had taken us a week to learn three words of Yugoslavian-zhiveli, long life, huhvalla, thank you, and schlivavitza, the national drink (plum brandy). None of these seemed appropriate. We got the Idea that photographs of railroad tunnels and bridges were prohibited. The guard, for such he seemed to be, took the Audi plate number, administered a last scowling reprimand and stalked off. This incident was the only one in a 15-day visit to Yugoslavia which we would have associated with "Iron Curtain restrictions."

Jan 1, 1970

By Norman B. Pilling

The technical difficulties hampering the metallographic analysis of silicon steels are chiefly the result of the extreme corrodibility of these alloys. The addition of silicon to iron in increasing quantities, up to about 6 per cent., rapidly increases the susceptibility of the alloy to chemical attack, not only in acid solution, but in water. This renders the preparation of metallographic sections very difficult, because of a non-selective attack upon the finely polished surface by the water used as a lubricant in polishing. This water attack masks the true structural details revealed by suitable etching reagents. It is thus necessary to use alcohol as a polishing lubricant in the last stages of preparation and to avoid all etching reagents having an aqueous base. A specific reagent for the identification of iron carbide in ferrous alloys, and the one hitherto used almost' exclusively by metallurgists, is an alkaline aqueous solution of sodium picrate, which stains this constituent selectively. Its application to silicon steels has not proved successful, as its distinctive selective action is more or less completely hidden by the general attack of the aqueous solvent on the silico-ferrite, greatly accentuated by the fact that this reagent must be used at its boiling temperature (105' C.). Thus, a powerful metallographic aid to the study of the higher silicon alloys, such as transformer steels, is lost. A new reagent has been developed for the purpose of overcoming this difficulty. It is with some hesitation that the list of etching reagents, already overburdened, is increased, but the properties of this new reagent are advantageous in several ways and a definite field for it may be found in the metallography of ferrous alloys. The reagent consists of a dilute solution of nitric acid and methyl alcohol in nitrobenzol. It is a great advantage to secure an anhydrous solution, as a tendency toward acidic etching has been traced to small amounts of water. A convenient method of preparation is to make an anhydrous stock solution of nitric acid in methyl alcohol in the proportion 20 per cent. acid by weight (12.5 per cent. by volume). The alcohol can

Jan 1, 1924

By Charles White Merrill, James W. Pennington

No metallurgical process developed in the 20th century compares with froth flotation in its effect on the mineral industry. Processes like gravity - concentration, amalgamation, and pyrometallurgical reduction are of ancient origin; others like cyanidation and electrolytic reduction were well established by 1900. Such metallurgical processes as heavy-media separation, ion-exchange, and solvent extraction belong to this century, but their influence is small compared with froth flotation. Data collected by the U. S. Bureau of Mines* in a canvass of 202 froth flotation plants reveal that, in 1960, 198- million tons of material was treated to recover 20-million tons of concentrates which contained approximately $1 billion in recoverable products. SIGNIFICANCE OF FLOTATION Froth flotation as described in this chapter refers to a wet process for separating properly ground mineral particles into two or more products. It involves the separation of mineral particles from each other in a liquid pulp by means of air bubbles. Finely crushed ore is agitated in water with the addition of air or other gases. Various chemicals and oils are added to cause the selected mineral particles to attach themselves to the air or gas bubbles. These bubbles, carrying the mineral particles, rise to the surface where they are removed in a froth, while the other particles remain suspended in the pulp. The earliest flotation divided the raw material into two products: a bulk concentrate that was removed as a froth and a tailing that remained in the flotation machine. The froth usually contained the valuable constituents. The successful application of such a process depended on the recovery of a single concentrate from which one or more valuable constituents could be recovered by a chemical or smelting process. With the advance of the art, however, the principle of selective flotation, by which two or more relatively pure products could be recovered from complex raw materials, was evolved. Other chapters in this volume describe the developments during the last 50

Jan 1, 1962

By Zay Jeffries

A SURVEY of rare metals and minerals for the past year places uranium as one of two partners, the other being the neutron, in what historians will probably say is the greatest discovery in physics at least during the year and probably for a consider- ably longer period. The uranium atom has been made to divide into parts somewhat after the style of reproduction of the amoeba. When an amoeba divides into two parts, however, it produces two amoebae substantially alike and each substantially like the parent: furthermore, there is no considerable change of energy when this happens. When the uranium atom divides it yields other atoms such as barium and krypton with the complete destruction of the original uranium atom but with the liberation of a tremendous amount of energy. This will be discussed more at length later.

Jan 1, 1940

By PHILIP N. MOORE

IT is a pleasure to realize even at that day the dignity of the engineer's calling was upheld. May I also add my firm belief that today there be many engineers who will qualify to the specifications of our interesting author. Since that time, the development of the world has been chiefly due to the engineer, and so far as human brain can foresee, the material tasks of the future will continue to follow the directions of his judgment. Popular opinion says this is the age of the engineer; literature, which in the long run, voices public sentiment, shows it in the number of engineers who figure as characters of fiction. The engineer has been doing the big things necessary to increase the comfort and efficiency of mankind, but while a certain amount of fame and repute falls to him, too often he figures as the hired man of the entrepreneur, using that term not in the offensive sense of a mere promoter, but to mean the great visioned master of enterprise who has seen ahead of other men, recognized the coming needs of the world, and through ability to inspire others and to hire capital for his use has also been able to hire engineers as needed. Justly enough, therefore, to such men comes the fame as well as the prize of the game.

Jan 1, 1926

By R. P. Agarwala, M. S. Anand

Using residual activity technique, the diffusion of palladium, silver, cadmium, indium, and tin in alunzinum has been studied in the temperature range of 400" to 630°C. The diffusivities (in units of square centimeters per second) have been expressed as: IMPURITY diffusion in aluminum,1-9 silverand lead5 for cases of low solid solubility of the impurity in the host metal has yielded frequency factors in the range of l0-6 to l0-9 sq cm per sec whereas the activation energy is practically half the self-diffusion activation energy value. From the observed values of frequency factor, activation energy, and entropy of activation, it has been suggested' that these solutes are not diffusing by vacancy or interstitial mechanisms but by a mechanism which should be consistent with such low values of the diffusion parameters (Do and Q). However in spite of extensive work on these types of systems, the mechanism of diffusion is still not well understood. The present investigation on the diffusion of palladium, silver, cadmium, indium, and tin in aluminum has been carried out to throw further light on the diffusion mechanism in systems, where the solid solubility is very low (except for the case of silver). The results are discussed on the basis of solid solubility and the structural changes involved owing to the presence of the solutes in aluminum solid solution. An attempt has also been made to apply the existing theories of charge5-8 and size8 difference between the solute and the solvent. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Specimens (1/2 in. diam by 3/8 in. high) were machined out of pure aluminum (99.995 wt pct) rod obtained from Johnson Mattheys. They were sealed under vacuum in quartz tubes and annealed at 620° C for several hours; the grains thus developed were sufficiently large to eliminate the possibility of diffusion along the grain boundaries. The flat ends were prepared carefully after polishing as described previously,10 Radioactive nitrates of cadmium, indium, and tin and chloride of palladium containing, respectively, cd115, 1n114, sn113, and pd103 were dissolved in distilled water and mixed with 30 pct acetone. By means of a micropipet a drop of this solution was placed on a smoothly polished and lightly etched surface of the specimen. Due care was taken to see that the solution spread uniformly on the surface of specimen without trickling down its sides. Radioactive silver was elec-trodeposited using a AgCN-KCN bath. The amount of sample deposited in all the cases was not more than 0.1 µ thick. The samples were then sealed in quartz tubes in vacuum. The cadmium samples were sealed in a purified argon atmosphere to avoid evaporation. The samples were then diffusion-annealed. The temperature of annealing varied between 400° and 630°C and was controlled to ±5°C. On heating to -400°C,the deposits of cadmium, indium, and tin, which were of the order of 0.1 p in thickness, were converted to their respective oxides. The contribution of oxygen present in the lattice of aluminum due to these oxides has been calculated and found to be less than 10 ppm in all cases. Oxide method has already been used by other workers11'12 in diffusion studies without any controversy on the issue. However, in some of these investigations, metallic deposition was also tried. The diffusivities calculated from these measurements were found to agree very well with the diffusivities obtained by using the oxide method. Thus it is assumed that the measured diffusivities represent true diffusion coefficients. Since palladous chloride decomposes at about 500°C, the deposited samples which were to be diffusion-annealed below 500°C were heated in vacuum for a very short time at 500°C to allow the decomposition of palladous chloride to palladium metal. Time taken in decomposition of nitrates to oxides and chloride to metal was negligibly small as compared to the period of the diffusion anneals. The residual activity technique13 was used to study the diffusion profiles where thin layers from the specimen surface were removed by grinding it parallel to a flat surface on a 600-grade carborundum paper. The specimen was washed, dried, and weighed, the differ -ence of the weight being the measure of the thickness of the layer removed. After each such abrasion and weighing, the total residual activity on the surface of the specimens was measured by counting 0.656, 0.94,

Jan 1, 1968