Note that this will only be true for all reflections if the detector is centered. Fraction of the unique data collected on a small molecule crystal, displayed as two volumes in reciprocal space. The blue surface defines the volume occupied by all possible unique reflections for this orthorhombic cell, to the appropriate limiting resolution. The magenta surface encloses the unique reflections actually collected, in a 360 degree rotation, for this crystal. Figure drawn using the program Geomview from The Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota.
Enough information is now available to determine the experimental parameters for data collection.
Multiple passes with different exposure times may be necessary to get a wide resolution range. The minimum exposure time per degree is set by the maximum speed of the spindle motor. For strongly diffracting crystals, it may be necessary to attenuate the x-ray beam to avoid overloading. Oscillation range - set to minimize number of exposures, while allowing few overlapping reflections and keeping background low. May vary with spindle setting.