CARTHAGE COLLEGE

Identifying Elements Through Spectral Analysis

Andrew Spinelli

Abstract

In order to identify three unknown elements, an experiment was conducted to find distinguishing
characteristics of the elements. Each element was contained in a glass tube with an electrical current
passing through it. The resulting light was spectrally analyzed, with the data found being used to
identify the elements, which turned out to be Hydrogen, Helium, and Mercury.
Introduction

In astronomy, one of the primary ways of identifying elements in distant astronomical objects is

through spectral analysis. This is done by using some sort of prism like object to break light that comes

from the object up into the different visible light wavelengths that it is made of. We see this as a

spectrum. Spectra can be continuous, absorption, or emission spectra, depending on their source. A

continuous spectra can come from a radiating blackbody, or heated object. An absorption spectra is a

result of a continuous spectra passing through a cloud of cool gas which absorbs certain wavelengths to

result in a continuous spectrum that is missing certain points from its spectrum, or missing spectral lines.

An emission spectrum, which we will observe in this lab, is a result of the gathered light being emitted

by that cloud, in the form of the same lines it had captured from the absorption spectrum. When a gas

is excited by electricity, it gives off an emission spectrum.

Procedure and Methods

Once the tubes containing the elements in question were set up on stands with electrical

currents passing through them, the setup simply consisted of calibrating a spectrometer to make our

observations. This was done by viewing a fluorescent light through the spectrometer and lining the

thick green line up with the 546 Nm line on the spectrometer scale. Once this was accomplished, we

could look through the spectrometer and line it up with the light of each tube to view the wavelengths

of the different spectral lines emitted by the elements. These wavelengths were recorded and can be

seen in Table 1. The lines were not so easy to see for the more complicated spectra, such as Mercury.

However, by process of elimination, and comparison of color of the lines, positive identification was

possible, though both Barium and Mercury agreed with my third spectral observation. For my

observations, both because of inexperience and lack of precise tools, I decided that observed spectral

lines agreed if they were within 10 Nm of the actual spectral lines that they were being compared to.
Table 1: Observed Spectral Line Wavelengths

Element Line 1 (Nm) Line 2 (Nm) Line 3 (Nm) Line 4 (Nm) Line 5 (Nm) Line 6 (Nm)
Hydrogen 440 490 670
Helium 450 495 505 590 670 700
Mercury 440 550 580 610 700

The following images show the observed spectral lines followed by those that have been

captured by professional grade spectrometers. Note that the observed spectral lines line up with the

brightest of the actual spectral lines. As can be seen in figure 1, hydrogen was relatively easy to identify.

The observed lines agree almost exactly with the actual lines, with no more than 5 Nm between actual

and observed lines.

Figure 1: Observed Spectral Lines and Actual Spectral Lines of Hydrogen

Observed Spectral Lines

400 450 500 550 600 650 700

Actual Spectral Lines

Image by Joachim Köppen Strasbourg, <http://astro.u-strasbg.fr/~koppen/discharge/>

Figure 2 shows that helium was slightly harder to identify, since it had nearly four times as many

observable spectral lines. Also, a few of the lines came close to disagreement, but all came within 9 Nm

of the actual lines, resulting in positive identification.

Figure 2: Observed Spectral Lines and Actual Spectral Lines of Helium

Observed Spectral Lines

 400 450 500 550 600 650 700

Actual Spectral Lines

Image by Joachim Köppen Strasbourg, <http://astro.u-strasbg.fr/~koppen/discharge/>

The final element defied identification for some time. There were so many lines to observe, and

such obvious complexity, that at first, Barium seemed to be the correct option. The lines came close to

agreement, and the image lined up, but after looking at Mercury, it was decided that the latter was the

better option for the actual spectrum.

Figure 3: Observed Spectral Lines and Actual Spectral Lines of Mercury

Observed Spectral Lines

400 450 500 550 600 650 700

Actual Spectral Lines

Image by Joachim Köppen Strasbourg, <http://astro.u-strasbg.fr/~koppen/discharge/>

Figure 4: Actual Spectral Lines of Barium

 Image by Joachim Köppen Strasbourg, <http://astro.u-strasbg.fr/~koppen/discharge/>

Figure 1: Observed and Actual Spectral Lines (X Axis is wavelengths in nanometers)

Discussion

Within this lab it became apparent that this technique becomes more and more difficult with

the addition of different elements for consideration. Considering the huge amount of different

substances that make up a star, and all the different energies a star gives off, it seems like identifying

elements in a star must be a daunting task. The applications and ramifications of this method, however,

are extremely exciting. The harnessing of light to accomplish such tasks is truly amazing.

Conclusion

During this lab we analyzed the spectra of different elements to determine their identities. This

was done by identifying individual spectral lines and pairing them with the element which most closely

contained them. Though identification of the elements became increasingly difficult with increasing

complexity of the elements, it was possible, and to a large degree reliable, to identify elements in this

manner. It seems that it should be possible to identify the make up of all sorts of light emitting objects

with little cost and great accuracy through this method.