Dear Stephen, You are quite correct. I was going to make the same reply to Christian's comment also using NaCl as an example. What I would add though is that NaCl may be more prone to preferred orientation as the cubes are close to perfect - in contrast to say cubic zeolites where I have observed more rounded corners (e.g. as one has on a pair of dice). Cubes with rounded corners probably orient more randomly, though there is still the possibility to line up with the flat face parallel to the surface when flattened with a glass micorscope slide during sample preparation. I also find that well ground NaCl is less prone to texture. Jeremy Karl Cockcroft.
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