Here's a nice new feature suggested by Julie Chouinard that allows the user to have the software
not normalize the specified element concentrations for particle corrections as seen here:
So, let's take a look. Here are some asbestos data without a particle correction. The fiber sizes vary, but were in the ball park of a few microns. If we had the correct fiber diameter specified for each data point the totals would be much closer to 100%, but the geometry effect correction is roughly the same for similar sized fibers (or particles).
ELEM: Na K Al Fe Si Mg Ca O H
TYPE: ANAL ANAL ANAL ANAL ANAL ANAL ANAL CALC SPEC
BGDS: MAN LIN MAN MAN MAN MAN MAN
TIME: 120.00 40.00 120.00 120.00 90.00 90.00 90.00
BEAM: 10.05 10.05 10.05 10.05 10.05 10.05 10.05
ELEM: Na K Al Fe Si Mg Ca O H SUM
152 .017 .269 .406 .030 1.614 .028 .159 19.226 2.126 23.876
153 .045 .447 .832 .592 3.322 .235 .239 21.927 2.126 29.766
154 .101 1.180 1.961 .143 6.609 .172 1.229 27.070 2.126 40.591
155 .006 .025 .055 .016 .178 .001 .021 17.146 2.126 19.574
156 .058 .901 1.224 .051 5.172 .070 .471 24.309 2.126 34.382
157 .020 .126 .203 .004 .877 .004 .073 18.120 2.126 21.553
158 .082 1.335 2.447 .131 12.609 .119 .773 34.142 2.126 53.764
159 .070 .184 .250 .013 1.098 .016 .119 18.471 2.126 22.347
160 .013 .394 .505 .055 2.925 .089 .451 20.996 2.126 27.555
161 .047 .551 .959 .014 3.517 .042 .397 22.053 2.126 29.707
162 .123 2.299 4.300 .191 15.954 .219 3.363 40.931 2.126 69.505
163 .041 .020 .010 -.011 .152 .007 -.001 17.075 2.126 19.419
164 .039 .040 .077 .096 .407 .051 .042 17.505 2.126 20.382
165 .030 .001 .015 .005 .069 -.002 -.006 16.973 2.126 19.210
166 .063 1.033 1.895 .211 7.976 .189 .698 28.344 2.126 42.534
167 -.005 .019 .032 -.013 .184 .006 .003 17.116 2.126 19.468
168 .039 .015 .041 -.014 .231 .006 .001 17.190 2.126 19.633
AVER: .046 .520 .895 .089 3.700 .074 .472 22.270 2.126 30.192
SDEV: .034 .639 1.171 .148 4.689 .083 .821 6.857 .000Note the ratio between the averages and standard deviations. Note also that 19% H2O has been specified to the matrix since this is an amphibole asbestos and that is about what it should have. Now we apply the particle correction assuming a 3 um diameter rod or fiber:
ELEM: Na K Al Fe Si Mg Ca O H SUM
152 .149 1.800 2.731 .371 10.758 .271 1.231 75.214 7.476 100.000
153 .227 2.176 3.951 2.693 15.971 1.091 1.281 67.198 5.413 100.000
154 .301 3.789 6.087 .529 20.901 .556 3.971 60.324 3.542 100.000
155 .118 .233 .732 .384 1.870 .145 .441 85.690 10.387 100.000
156 .229 3.577 4.733 .322 20.301 .319 1.951 64.167 4.402 100.000
157 .187 .992 1.713 .249 6.971 .150 .776 80.150 8.812 100.000
158 .185 3.007 5.395 .356 28.204 .290 1.782 58.301 2.480 100.000
159 .470 1.362 1.946 .306 8.183 .219 1.071 78.130 8.313 100.000
160 .109 2.128 2.720 .439 15.632 .515 2.546 69.900 6.012 100.000
161 .229 2.673 4.539 .226 16.875 .267 2.029 67.765 5.396 100.000
162 .196 3.864 7.020 .360 26.412 .371 5.597 54.345 1.836 100.000
163 .373 .188 .345 .189 1.653 .198 .247 86.270 10.537 100.000
164 .329 .344 .857 .986 3.682 .521 .591 82.991 9.700 100.000
165 .299 .006 .395 .330 .910 .127 .200 86.993 10.740 100.000
166 .191 3.114 5.556 .682 23.781 .571 2.161 60.612 3.331 100.000
167 .034 .177 .535 .180 1.941 .193 .276 86.186 10.478 100.000
168 .349 .134 .609 .170 2.330 .188 .256 85.631 10.333 100.000
AVER: .234 1.739 2.933 .516 12.140 .352 1.553 73.522 7.011 100.000
SDEV: .109 1.418 2.270 .596 9.512 .242 1.458 11.376 3.153 .000
The relative variance of the different data points is less and therefore improved, but note however that the specified H2O is also being normalized along with the measured elements and this is not physically realistic, so we turn on the "Do Not Normalize Specified Element Concentrations..." check box and now get an even further improved data set as seen here:
Un 4 Rome, OR, Results in Normalized Elemental Weight Percents (Particle Corrections)
ELEM: Na K Al Fe Si Mg Ca O H SUM
152 .363 4.392 6.664 .905 26.252 .662 3.005 55.631 2.126 100.000
153 .357 3.413 6.200 4.225 25.058 1.711 2.010 54.900 2.126 100.000
154 .356 4.491 7.214 .627 24.772 .659 4.706 55.049 2.126 100.000
155 1.331 2.633 8.260 4.339 21.111 1.638 4.976 53.585 2.126 100.000
156 .305 4.776 6.320 .430 27.106 .426 2.605 55.906 2.126 100.000
157 .713 3.782 6.530 .947 26.568 .572 2.958 55.803 2.126 100.000
158 .192 3.129 5.614 .370 29.351 .302 1.855 57.061 2.126 100.000
159 1.480 4.291 6.130 .963 25.778 .689 3.375 55.167 2.126 100.000
160 .191 3.724 4.761 .768 27.364 .902 4.457 55.707 2.126 100.000
161 .358 4.181 7.101 .354 26.398 .418 3.174 55.890 2.126 100.000
162 .190 3.744 6.802 .349 25.592 .359 5.423 55.416 2.126 100.000
163 5.177 2.614 4.788 2.626 22.951 2.747 3.424 53.546 2.126 100.000
164 2.002 2.090 5.215 6.002 22.401 3.168 3.595 53.400 2.126 100.000
165 6.020 .120 7.954 6.645 18.352 2.568 4.032 52.182 2.126 100.000
166 .220 3.592 6.408 .787 27.427 .658 2.492 56.289 2.126 100.000
167 .436 2.253 6.811 2.290 24.722 2.458 3.516 55.389 2.126 100.000
168 3.691 1.421 6.442 1.798 24.653 1.987 2.709 55.172 2.126 100.000
AVER: 1.375 3.215 6.424 2.025 25.050 1.290 3.430 55.064 2.126 100.000
SDEV: 1.836 1.232 .964 2.051 2.649 .968 1.015 1.225 .000 .000
Un 4 Rome, OR, Results in Normalized Oxide Weight Percents (Particle Corrections)
ELEM: Na2O K2O Al2O3 FeO SiO2 MgO CaO O H2O SUM
152 .490 5.290 12.592 1.164 56.163 1.097 4.204 .000 19.000 100.000
153 .481 4.112 11.714 5.435 53.608 2.838 2.812 .000 19.000 100.000
154 .480 5.410 13.631 .807 52.995 1.092 6.585 .000 19.000 100.000
155 1.795 3.172 15.608 5.583 45.165 2.716 6.962 .000 19.000 100.000
156 .412 5.754 11.941 .554 57.989 .707 3.644 .000 19.000 100.000
157 .962 4.556 12.338 1.219 56.838 .948 4.140 .000 19.000 100.000
158 .259 3.769 10.608 .476 62.792 .500 2.595 .000 19.000 100.000
159 1.995 5.169 11.583 1.239 55.148 1.143 4.722 .000 19.000 100.000
160 .257 4.486 8.995 .988 58.542 1.496 6.236 .000 19.000 100.000
161 .482 5.037 13.417 .456 56.474 .693 4.442 .000 19.000 100.000
162 .255 4.510 12.852 .449 54.751 .595 7.588 .000 19.000 100.000
163 6.979 3.149 9.047 3.378 49.101 4.555 4.791 .000 19.000 100.000
164 2.699 2.518 9.853 7.722 47.924 5.253 5.031 .000 19.000 100.000
165 8.115 .145 15.029 8.549 39.261 4.259 5.642 .000 19.000 100.000
166 .297 4.327 12.108 1.013 58.677 1.092 3.487 .000 19.000 100.000
167 .587 2.715 12.869 2.946 52.889 4.075 4.919 .000 19.000 100.000
168 4.975 1.712 12.171 2.314 52.742 3.295 3.790 .000 19.000 100.000
AVER: 1.854 3.872 12.139 2.605 53.592 2.139 4.799 .000 19.000 100.000
SDEV: 2.475 1.484 1.821 2.639 5.667 1.606 1.421 .000 .000 .000
Pretty cool actually!