Since ancient Greece, humanity has become fascinated with science. The development of new technologies that will further the existence of mankind, has been the goal for many great scientists. Through centuries of experimenting, the mid-evil era of alchemy, and many years after, Chemistry became a topic of much importance. During the 1800’s, science had become one of the most rapidly growing fields as explanations for how things work, or the technological progression allowing us to discover more. Two scientists who were at the foremost end of chemistry advancement during the mid 1800’s were Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff. The two were research professors for the majority of their careers, working together to find some of the most influential
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When flame test research is performed on an element, it is easy to see the color changes just by physically observing it. Often, many elements can have similar emission spectra’s, which is why Kirchhoff invented the Spectrometer. This is a specialized device that uses a prism and two mirrors that allow the light to be conducted into its unique emission spectra.
From elements such as lithium to others like selenium, every single element has its own unique color or elemental fingerprint; this is called the emission spectrum.
When using a spectrometer, it can be confusing to many what it is they are actually seeing. Light is made up of both waves, and particles. These particles are called Photons, and all light is made up of these. Photons have no mass, thus allowing them to travel at the speed of light and its energy is always positive. A light wave is made up of these photons, meaning that are the composition of light itself. With this in mind, photons can hit each other, and do so very frequently. When photons bump into other atoms, much of their energy can get the electrons within those atoms to move much faster. These electrons do not want this additional energy, thus they give off heat so that they may return to stable conditions, and this is why we feel …show more content…
Thus in the modern era of science, more advanced and accurate instruments have been developed. The hand held spectrometer proved to be effective, however with human error it became less reliable because what one researcher sees, may not be exactly what the next will see, or at least have inaccurate scientific recordings. One way that many institutions or labs can improve upon their spectrometers is with a charged-coupled device (CCD) array spectrophotometer. A professor in chemistry named Alexander Y. Nazarenko, gave praise to these new devices and said, “When equipped with a fiber optic probe, these spectrophotometers are well suited for use in qualitative analysis for the flame test. CCD array spectrophotometers are increasingly recognized as an important new technology now available in undergraduate education” . This device gives accurate, consistent results that allow chemists to confidently identify
When flame test research is performed on an element, it is easy to see the color changes just by physically observing it. Often, many elements can have similar emission spectra’s, which is why Kirchhoff invented the Spectrometer. This is a specialized device that uses a prism and two mirrors that allow the light to be conducted into its unique emission spectra.
From elements such as lithium to others like selenium, every single element has its own unique color or elemental fingerprint; this is called the emission spectrum.
When using a spectrometer, it can be confusing to many what it is they are actually seeing. Light is made up of both waves, and particles. These particles are called Photons, and all light is made up of these. Photons have no mass, thus allowing them to travel at the speed of light and its energy is always positive. A light wave is made up of these photons, meaning that are the composition of light itself. With this in mind, photons can hit each other, and do so very frequently. When photons bump into other atoms, much of their energy can get the electrons within those atoms to move much faster. These electrons do not want this additional energy, thus they give off heat so that they may return to stable conditions, and this is why we feel …show more content…
Thus in the modern era of science, more advanced and accurate instruments have been developed. The hand held spectrometer proved to be effective, however with human error it became less reliable because what one researcher sees, may not be exactly what the next will see, or at least have inaccurate scientific recordings. One way that many institutions or labs can improve upon their spectrometers is with a charged-coupled device (CCD) array spectrophotometer. A professor in chemistry named Alexander Y. Nazarenko, gave praise to these new devices and said, “When equipped with a fiber optic probe, these spectrophotometers are well suited for use in qualitative analysis for the flame test. CCD array spectrophotometers are increasingly recognized as an important new technology now available in undergraduate education” . This device gives accurate, consistent results that allow chemists to confidently identify