science

InXitu

InXitu is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand InXitu rather than just read about it. In short: inXitu was a company based in Mountain View, California, which developed portable X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis instruments. The company name was a combination of the terms in situ and X-ray, portraying the company's dedication to developing X-ray instruments that could be easily transported to the original site of the material being analyzed.

Key takeaways

InXitu belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect InXitu to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of InXitu from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

inXitu was a company based in Mountain View, California, which developed portable X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis instruments. The company name was a combination of the terms in situ and X-ray, portraying the company's dedication to developing X-ray instruments that could be easily transported to the original site of the material being analyzed.

Company history The basis for inXitu began in 2003 when Philippe Sarrazin worked with NASA to file a patent on techniques used to develop the CheMin instrument for the Mars Curiosity rover. Sarrazin left NASA to form inXitu Research, which received two Small Business Innovation Research grants from Ames Research Center in 2004 to continue work on CheMin. inXitu Research merged with Microwave Power Technology (MPT) in 2007 and incorporated as inXitu, Inc. MPT's research and development in high vacuum systems was meshed with inXitu's experience with XRD equipment, and in early 2008 the company released Terra, a commercial field-portable XRD/XRF instrument. Bradley Boyer joined the company as President and Chief Executive Officer in September 2008. inXitu formed a partnership with Innov-X in December 2008, in which inXitu would manufacture XRD equipment for sale under the Innov-X brand name. Also in 2008, inXitu worked with the Getty Conservation Institute to develop X-Duetto, a portable and non-destructive XRD/XRF device used for the analysis of works of art. It was commercially released as Duetto in mid 2009. The company released the BTX instrument in mid 2009, which is a desktop XRD/XRF device developed from Terra; the second generation BTX-II was released in early 2010. inXitu was purchased by Olympus in November 2011.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with InXitu

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what InXitu claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to InXitu before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about InXitu ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of InXitu

In research: InXitu appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses InXitu in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: InXitu is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Defunct technology companies of the United States, Diffraction, Fluorescence, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for InXitu outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study InXitu in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what InXitu means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain InXitu out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is InXitu in simple terms?

Why does InXitu matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study InXitu?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on InXitu.