Widmanstätten pattern

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/widmanst-tten-pattern

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Widmanstätten pattern (also Thomson structure)
2. What is the primary composition?Interleaving lamellae of kamacite (alpha-Fe-Ni) and taenite (gamma-Fe-Ni), often with interstitial plessite
3. How do the patterns form in meteorites?When a big iron‑nickel metal cools over millions of years, tiny crystals of kamacite grow inside a matrix of taenite. The slow growth creates long, straight bands.
4. Why are the bands called kamacite and taenite?Kamacite is a low‑nickel, iron‑rich phase, while taenite is a high‑nickel iron‑nickel alloy. These two materials make the distinct bands in the pattern.

Solid-State Transformation: A change in the structure or phase of a solid material without melting.
Phase Diagram: A graphical representation showing the stable phases of a substance under different conditions of temperature and pressure.
Crystallographic Planes: Specific, flat surfaces within a crystal lattice along which atoms are arranged.