The electron distribution in chromium

Abstract X-ray intensity measurements for chromium powder, using Ag Kα radiation, were placed on an absolute scale by direct measurement of the power in the incident beam. Effects due to preferred orientation, surface roughness and extinction were shown to be negligible and measurements using Cu Kα radiation confirmed the absence of effects which vary with wavelength. The experimental scattering factors determined from the intensity measurements were found to agree with the theoretical values for the ground-state free atom on a relative scale, but to be about 5% lower on an absolute scale. This is similar to the 4% difference reported by Batterman, Chipman and DeMarco for measurements on iron, copper and aluminium, and comparison of measurements from a sample of this copper with those from chromium confirmed the agreement of the absolute scales.