Widmanstätten pattern
Widmanstätten pattern, lines that appear in some iron meteorites when a cross section of the meteorite is etched with weak acid. The pattern is named for Alois von Widmanstätten, a Viennese scientist who discovered it in 1808. It represents a section through a three-dimensional octahedral structure in the metal that is formed of bands of kamacite with narrower borders of taenite, the meshes being filled with a mixture of these two alloys.
Citation Information
Article Title:
Widmanstätten pattern
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
09 April 2012
Access Date:
February 22, 2025