Two techniques for simplifying data taking and for eliminating the requirement of a carefully stabilized x‐ray power supply in x‐ray absorption spectrometry have been developed. Method I oscillates the sample in and out of the beam with a period that is small compared to drift and the usual x‐ray tube instabilities. The correspondingIandI0are channeled to two ratemeters, and by analog techniques a quantity proportional to the absorption coefficient is electronically calculated and plotted. In method II, two counters are arranged in tandem with the sample between, yieldingIandI0simultaneously. The proper apportionment of counts in both arrangements is considered.