Potassium Chloroplantane

Description

Since crystal lattice plane spacings are accurately known from x-ray measurements, they provide a good test of microscope stability and a calibration of magnification in the upper range of magnification of the instrument.  

Lattice spacing 0.563nm
In order to obtain thin enough crystals of this compound, the preparation of Komoda and Sakata (1959) is used.  This involves mixing the preparation with gelatin and spraying it on to a hot surface, so that the droplets dry very quickly, and the crystal is obliged to grow beneath the gelatin layer in a plate like form.
The spray droplets can readily be identified on the preparation – choose one with thin crystals along the edge of the drop. When the specimen is irradiated with a high intensity beam, the gelatin crystals are stable.  They do not appear to have well-defined faces, but can be located by electron diffraction.
It is advisable to tilt the specimen at 35° to the horizontal to reveal the 0.563 plane spacings of the K2PtCl6