The overall objective of the experiment was to find the concentration of phosphate by using spectroscopy. Dilutions of a phosphate working solution with a known concentration were made and their absorption lengths were found using the spectrometer in order to find the concentration of the unknown phosphate sample.
INTRODUCTION
The goal of the experiment was to find the concentration of an unknown water sample using several standard phosphate solutions’ absorbencies and Beer’s Law. Knowing the relationship between the absorption of light and concentration allows scientists to know the identity and quantity of a substance in samples. Because phosphorous is an essential nutrient to plant and animal life and is in short supply in most fresh waters, a small increase could result in detrimental effects to the habitat such as accelerated plant growth, low dissolved oxygen, and death to certain fish (Detter, 2). Knowing the concentration of phosphate is a water quality issue because most digestive problems are results of high levels of phosphate as well as eutrophication, or the overgrowth of plants (Detter, 2). Knowing the concentration of phosphate in water can prevent reservoirs and other aquatic habitats from dying (Water Research Center). In the …show more content…
With a 1 mL volumetric pipette, 1 mL of molybdate solution was added to the water sample. The mixture was then swirled to mix it together then 2 drops of the Tin(II) Chloride solution was added. The mixture was then mixed again and the time that it took to change color was recorded to use as a time standard for the other 5 samples. After the standard time went by, the solution was then placed in a test tube and put in the spectrometer to calculate the absorption levels. This procedure was repeated for the other 5 samples using the standard time as a guideline before putting the samples into the
INTRODUCTION
The goal of the experiment was to find the concentration of an unknown water sample using several standard phosphate solutions’ absorbencies and Beer’s Law. Knowing the relationship between the absorption of light and concentration allows scientists to know the identity and quantity of a substance in samples. Because phosphorous is an essential nutrient to plant and animal life and is in short supply in most fresh waters, a small increase could result in detrimental effects to the habitat such as accelerated plant growth, low dissolved oxygen, and death to certain fish (Detter, 2). Knowing the concentration of phosphate is a water quality issue because most digestive problems are results of high levels of phosphate as well as eutrophication, or the overgrowth of plants (Detter, 2). Knowing the concentration of phosphate in water can prevent reservoirs and other aquatic habitats from dying (Water Research Center). In the …show more content…
With a 1 mL volumetric pipette, 1 mL of molybdate solution was added to the water sample. The mixture was then swirled to mix it together then 2 drops of the Tin(II) Chloride solution was added. The mixture was then mixed again and the time that it took to change color was recorded to use as a time standard for the other 5 samples. After the standard time went by, the solution was then placed in a test tube and put in the spectrometer to calculate the absorption levels. This procedure was repeated for the other 5 samples using the standard time as a guideline before putting the samples into the