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What Is Spectrophotometer by SpectroPlatfor(f): 10:16am On Jun 24, 2020
What Is a Spectrophotometer?
A rainbow is a most beautiful thing to behold, but if it weren't for light and how it behaves, we wouldn't be able to see it. Raindrops act like a prism, splitting the combined white light from the sun into all the visible colors of the light[url] spectrum.
But even the colors of simple things, like a leaf for example, have to do with wavelengths of light. Each color in light has a different wavelength, so when light reaches an object, some wavelengths get absorbed, and others get reflected back. We only see the reflected colors. A green leaf only appears green because all the other colors have been absorbed.
It is this same principle of color and wavelength that a spectrophotometer is based on. A spectrophotometer is a special instrument that measures how much light a substance absorbs. Every substance will transmit (reflect back) and absorb light slightly differently. Like how a fingerprint identifies each individual human, knowing exactly how much red (or green, or blue, etc.) gets absorbed allows us to identify and quantify different materials.
Parts
So how does a spectrophotometer work? What's going on inside the box?
1. A sample solution is placed inside the spectrophotometer.
2. A light source shines light toward the sample.
3. A device called a monochromator splits the light into each color, or rather, individual wavelengths (just like a raindrop makes a rainbow). An adjustable slit allows only one specific wavelength of light through to the sample solution.
4. The wavelength of light hits the sample, which is held in a little container called a cuvette. We need to be careful when handling cuvettes; even a slight fingerprint can interfere with the results.
5. Whatever light passes through the sample is read and displayed on the output screen.
Uses
Before the spectrophotometer was developed, scientists had no reliable and rapid method to determine the chemical make-up of a substance. The spectrophotometer radically changed all of that. You can imagine how useful it could be to know what is in a substance.
A spectrophotometer is used in many areas of science including microbiology, biochemistry, forensics, physics, and medical health. You can use it to measure certain ingredients in a drug to make sure it is effective and safe for consumers. You can measure bacterial growth, or diagnose a patient based on how much uric acid is present in their urine. Even non-scientists use spectrophotometers. Wine-makers, for example, use them to determine how much malic acid (reducing sugars) a particular wine has in it.
Scientists can also use the spectrophotometer to see how a reaction has progressed. Let's say you're studying iron deficiency, a condition that affects over 2 billion people. Antioxidants, vitamins, and other agents are known to help in iron deficiency, but they don't have a single specific chemical make-up, and so they can't be directly measured. However, they are known to reduce ferric iron into ferrous iron, a more valuable form to the human body.
Ferrous iron will have a blue color, while ferric iron will not. Mix in ferric iron into your sample solution of whatever product, and then measure the intensity of blue created with a spectrophotometer. By setting it to 593 nanometers (the exact wavelength of the blue color that pure ferrous iron reflects) and measuring how many waves pass through, you can know how concentrated antioxidants were in the mixture.

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Re: What Is Spectrophotometer by Valery24: 7:14pm On Dec 13, 2021
The cuvette is used to analyze the sample and is part of the optical system of the spectrophotometer. For this reason, the position, geometry and condition of the cuvette can affect the accuracy of the absorbance measurement, and this influence must be carefully controlled. If you are looking for buy such a tool for yourself, the cots lab service offers you a good selection and at affordable prices
Re: What Is Spectrophotometer by sinkhole: 6:50am On Dec 14, 2021
Valery24:
The cuvette is used to analyze the sample and is part of the optical system of the spectrophotometer. For this reason, the position, geometry and condition of the cuvette can affect the accuracy of the absorbance measurement, and this influence must be carefully controlled. If you are looking for buy such a tool for yourself, the cots lab service offers you a good selection and at affordable prices
cuvette is used to hold the sample for analysis, though, just as you mentioned, the position and properties of the cuvette itself could influence the result of the analysis.

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