The existence of the Ka2 lines in powder diffractograms has always obscured the interpretation of the diffraction patterns. Studies involving integrated intensity measurements, peak intensities and line broadening have been hampered owing to these extraneous lines. Crystal monochromators are ineffective for eliminating the Ka2 profile. This paper presents an algorithm which practically removes the Cu K~2 profile. Previous procedures to remove the Ko~z line or resolve the K~ doublet assumed the shape of the ~2 component to be identical to that of the a, component. The algorithm presented here uses the actual shape relationship between observed ~1 and ~2 components as a basis for elimination of the ~z profile. This algorithm has been applied to an on-line computer-controlled diffractometer to produce 'real time' Cu K~2-free diffraction patterns. The method is quite general and can be extended to remove the Ka2