Editing materials with the material editor

The material editor is used to edit the materials of various components in the simulation setup. A material in AASI is an element, an elemental compound, or a mixture. The material editor allows you to edit these types of materials, or to choose a material from a list of presets.

To choose a material from the presets use the following controls:
The presets list

Selects the material from a list of presets.
See using material presets

To choose between the type of material to edit, use the following controls:

'Compound material' button

Selects the material type to be compound. This is also the recommended material type for single element materials.
See editing compound materials
'Mixture material' button

Selects the type of material to be mixture. Editing mixture materials is a little bit more involved.
See editing mixture materials

 
Editing compound materials

When a compound material type has been selected, the chemical composition of the compound can then be specified by giving its molecular or empirical formula using the following control:

'Molecular formula' field

Use this field to give the empirical or molecular formula of the compound your material is comprised of. Use chemical symbols to specify the consistuent elements and subscripted number to denote the number of atoms of that element. Use superscripted number in front of element symbol to denote an isotope.  You can change a number from subscript to superscript by up and down arrows. The elements in the compound are enumerated to the right of the field.

You may also use the give the formula using the periodic table window and clicking the desired elements. See using the periodic table window.

Editing mixture materials

When a mixture material type has been selected,  futher controls for mixture editing will be enabled. The mixture is specified by selecting the elements in the mixture

Element list

Use this list to select an element for the mixture. The element can then be moved to the mixture elements table using the add element to mixture button. When an element is selected in the list, information about it will be displayed below.
Add element to mixture button

Use this button to add an element into the mixture elements table. The element in the mixture can then be edited.
Remove element from mixture button

Use this button to remove an element from the mixture elements table.
Mixture elements table

Use this table to define the mixture when the constituent elements have been selected.      Use the mass percentage column by either dragging the histograms or clicking mouse button and entering a value to specify the relative mass percentage of the element in the mixture.
 The A column may be used to specify an isotope element.
Atoms in molecule column may be used to specify the molecule of the element for which the mass percentage applies e.g. 2 for O2, the mass percentage would now indicate the percentage of O2 in the mixture


You may also use the give the elements in the mixture by using the periodic table window and clicking the desired elements. See using the periodic table window.

Using material presets

Material presets allow loading and saving of materials defined using the material editor. It is a good idea to save common or often needed materials as presets when the desired compound or mixture has been defined.

To save the material currently in the material editor as a preset use the following controls:

Save preset button

Clicking this button allows you to save the material currently under editing as a preset. You will be prompted for the name and density of the material. After you have saved the material it will become available in the preset list for quick recall.

To remove the currently selected preset from the list of preset materials use the following controls:
Save preset button

Clicking this button will remove the preset material currently displayed in the preset list view.


Using the periodic table window

The periodic table window can be used to specify the elements used in the material whether it be a compound or a mixture.

For compound materials:
- Click the desired element with mouse. The element you clicked will be added to the compound formula field. Subsequent clicks on the same element will increment the number of atoms for that element e.g. clicking O twice would add O2 into the compound formula field.

For mixture materials:
- Click the desired element with mouse. The element you clicked will be added into the mixture elements table as a new row. Subsequent clicks on the same element will increment the number of atoms for that element e.g. clicking O twice would add O into the mixture elements table and set the number of atoms column to 2.