AP's+Milestone+Map

Milestones Give a description of PIXE. Proton Induced X-ray Emission or PIXE is an analytical tool used for identifying the elemental make-up of a sample. When the sample is exposed to an ion beam it emits an x-ray that is specific to the element. It is stated that electrons must occupy certain levels of and atom but when the proton from the ion beam is targeted on the atom it causes electrons to jump a level thus there is an x-ray emission. Elements above Fluorine can be detected. It is best at detecting things anywhere from one to ten parts per million. This procedure is absolutely non destructive to the sample. This tool is useful in geology, archaeology, and in analyzing art.

Make Notre Dame contact for a PIXE machine access. In order for one to make progress in the PIXE realm you must have some sort of access to a PIXE machine. In my case I needed to gain access to Notre Dame's PIXE machine. I have access to someone who worked with Notre Dame this past summer, in relation to the PIXE machine, in Mr. Mankowski. I first found Dr. Lamm's contact information on the Notre Dame web site and emailed him. Dr. Lamm runs the PIXE facilities at Notre Dame. He agreed to a meeting and tour of Notre Dame's facilities. Mr. Mankoswki and I met with Dr. Lamm, discussed me getting some time on the machine and some project options then he took us on a tour of the facilities.

Generate a PIXE project. In order for me to generate a quality project to carry out I needed to know what was feasible. The PIXE machine can only detect elements above Fluorine. Mr. Mankowski's experience proved that the machine works best with transition metals. While talking with Dr. Lamm, he mentioned the analysis of water. This idea stuck with me and after researching what I might find in our water around the city I found that analyzing water samples would work. I am going to get water samples from around the city that is supplied by different wells and other sources and compare the results of what I find in the water.

Learn sample preparation In order for me to analyze a water sample I have to be able to prepare the sample for analysis. Mr. Mankowski and I ran a few test runs to find the best way to prepare the sample for analysis. The water sample cannot be analyzed in liquid form so we must boil it down until the pollutants in the water are down to a powder. For this I took 500mL of a water sample, put it in a 500mL beaker, put it on a hot plate on the third setting and let it sit for about eight hours. This evaporated the water away and just left the pollutants. I scraped the remnant off of the beaker and into a specimen bottle. Future Milestones. Familiarize yourself with the hardware and software.
 * Learn how to use the analysis software GUPIX.
 * Learn how to use the PIXE machine.

Run a successful analysis of a sample. Correctly analyze the sample with the GUPIX software.