Compositional averaging of continuum intensities in multielement compounds.

We find no physical basis for traditional mass-fraction weighted averaging of X-ray continuum measured in pure elements to estimate continuum production from compounds. Measurements of continuum from pairs of stable isotopes demonstrate that mass alone (the presence of more or fewer neutrons) has no effect on continuum production in electron probe microanalysis. Electron-fraction weighted averaging, which is based on the relative contribution of each constituent element to the electron (or proton) composition of a compound, proved superior to mass-fraction weighted averaging, in predicting the continuum of a compound from the measured continuum of its elements.