Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-materials-science-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-1/7/b/solution
Past exam of the materials science course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 7 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Assume the two thermodynamic phases have similar atomic volumes, so use . Model the stated average pitch by one sphere per representative cubic volume . If the sphere diameter is ,Using the more literal lever-rule reading0.145 gives about0.65micrometres instead, within graphical uncertainty. The central estimate is therefore a diameter of roughly two-thirds of a micrometre.
A random distribution does not make a nearest-neighbor mean distance exactly equal to the cube root of inverse number density. The representative cubic spacing is an explicit geometric closure, not evidence that the precipitates actually form a cubic lattice. Unequal molar volumes or a different spacing statistic would change the inferred size.
Original geometric estimates for a spherical precipitate fraction, a dislocation free gap and a trial internal domain wall
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