Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Evidente, Ralph Carlo T.,2 Florendo, Mary Florence F., 3Gapasin, Danica G., Gutierrez, Jomari M. and Marquez, Ariziel Ruth,
School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Mapua Institute of Technology
1
ABSTRACT
Spectrophotometer is a method to measure how much a chemical substance absorbs light by measuring the
intensity of light as a beam of light passes through sample solution. A spectrophotometer is employed which
measures the amount of light of a specified wavelength which passes through a medium. On the first part, the
spectrophotometer was set to a wavelength of 350-850 nm consisting of ultraviolet ray and visible light. Then, the
cuvette was rinsed thoroughly and filled with distilled water up to full. The standard solution of 0.05 M cobalt (II)
nitrate was then placed on the second cuvette and serve as the sample. The absorbance of the sample was
measured in different wavelengths and was plotted versus the absorbance. For Beers Law plot, absorbance of
different cobalt (II) nitrate concentrations starting from lower concentrations as 0.005 M, 0.01 M, 0.02 M, 0.03 M,
0.04 M, 0.05 M and unknown was measured at specific wavelength that gives the maximum absorbance based
on the wavelength vs. absorbance graph. The amount of light absorbed by the medium is proportional to the
concentration of the absorbing material or solute present. Absorbance changes with respect to concentration.
Therefore, the absorbance is directly proportional to the concentration. The highest concentration has the highest
absorbance because there are many molecules that can absorb light. Lastly, as the concentration decreases, the
molecules in the solution become lesser; hence, the absorbance diminished resulting to a lower absorbance.
Keywords: Spectrophotometer, Absorbance, Concentration, Wavelength, Faradays laws
INTRODUCTION
characteristic absorptions and may indicate their
molecular structures.
One of the important tools for chemists is the
The complexes of octahedral cobalt typically have a
interaction of light (or other electromagnetic
band between 500 to 600 nanometers. The ligand
radiation) with matter. Most of ones learning of
field theory explains the color transition of metal
chemical substances comes from their specific
complexes. Which in the case of the octahedral
absorption or emission of light.
cobalt (II) complex, an octahedral ligand splits the
five d-orbitals into two other types of orbitals. The
From the definition, spectrophotometry is the
first type of orbitals is the t2g orbitals where three of
science of molecules and the characteristics of the
the d-orbitals have lower energy. The other type of
molecules such as absorption, or emission of light,
orbitals is the eg orbitals wherein the two remaining
heat, and other electromagnetic radiation. The
orbitals are raised in energy. Octahedral ligand splits
experiment focuses on the solution of Cobalt (II)
five d-orbitals into two other types of orbitals.
Nitrate. Cobalt Nitrate commonly found as
hexahydrate (hydrate containing 6 molecules of
Spectrophotometry is known to be a quantitative
water) is the inorganic cobalt (II) salt of nitric acid.
measurement of the reflection or transmission
Once these salts were dissolved in water, the
2+
properties of a material as function of wavelength.
2 of 9
Figure 2. Spectrometer
The first thing we did is to perform the beers law
plot. The group prepared 0.05 M Cobalt (II) Nitrate
and dilute it to 0.04M, 0.03M, 0.02M, 0.01M, and
0.005M, and get the absorbance reading of Cobalt
(II) Nitrate solution and an unknown solution that
was given by our zealous and one of the best lab
assistants in this generation.
The second part was to determine the absorbance
reading of a standard solution of Cobalt (II) Nitrate.
Then the lab assistant discussed to the group on
how to use or handle the cuvette properly and to
avoid breaking it. Hence, we wash the cuvette 3
times and make sure to hold it on the blurred part
only because the cuvette may get stain from the
fingers and it may affect the results of the
experiment. Then afterwards we carefully dried it
with a soft tissue to make sure that it is really not wet
or moist. The next thing we do is to transfer the
standard solution to it and carefully put it to the
spectrometer. The cuvette should not have any
bubbles inside that may affect the results. Then
finally, we obtained the absorbance reading through
a monitor and adjusting it to get the absorbance in a
specific wavelength.
The last part which is supposed to be the first part of
this experiment was to determine the color of the
beam in a given amount of wavelength and observe
it from the instrument but our professor told us to
research it because it takes time to perform it.
Figure
5.
3 of 9
Figure 6.
Absorbance value for each diluted salt solution and
the unknown.
Figure
7. Washing
the cuvette 3 times and drying it with a soft tissue.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A spectrophotometer is a photometer that can
measure the light intensity as a function of its
wavelength. Two major classes of the latter are
Single beam and double beam. Linear range of
absorption and spectral bandwidth measurement are
the important features of spectrophotometers.
Figure
8.
The
principle
behind
simple
COLOR
Violet
Blue
Green
Green
Orange
Red
4 of 9
5 of 9
ABSORBANCE
0.375
0.298
0.228
0.139
0.071
0.038
0.077
6 of 9
Figure10. A plot of Concentration vs. Absorbance -Calibration curve for Cobalt (II) Nitrate
By using the method of linear regression, the concentration of the unknown is calculated by the equation formed from the
linearity of the concentration and absorbance.
The equation formed from the data was given by:
y=7.5666 x0.004
(1)
where x is the concentration in Molarity and y is the absorbance. Using the equation, the computed concentration of cobalt
(II) nitrate was 0.0107 M.
The possible errors of the experiment may be from the inaccurate measurements in preparing the solutions. Also, maybe
from the estimations used in providing the absorbance in the given wavelength. Also, getting smaller increments of the
concentrations or wavelength may give a more accurate answer.
7 of 9
8 of 9
9 of 9