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:
To choose between the type of material to edit, use the following controls:
'Compound material' button |

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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 |

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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 |

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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.
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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 |

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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.
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Add element to mixture button |

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

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

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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
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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.
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 |

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

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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.