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Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies

Behind the Scenes: Furnace Drop Video!

Delve into current research at the Center with this periodic news feature, and catch a glimpse of what our students and scientists are working on right now!

Ph.D. Candidate Emilie Dunham is melting a mixture of oxide powders in a platinum crucible to make a new standard for SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) analysis of meteorites.   

After carefully weighing out clean oxide powders, Emilie places the mixture in a crucible, and into a DelTech gas mixing furnace.  She then raises the temperature to 1600 Celsius for 2 hours, after which the crucible is forced to fall from the furnace into a container of water, quenching the molten material into a glass.  Watch the video of her furnace drop below!