Post-Laboratory Questions
1. student, following the procedure in this
experiment determined the percent
transmittance of two solutions of unknown
concentration. The first was 96% and the
second was 3%.
(1) Convert the first percent transmittance to
an equivalent absorbance. Briefly explain why
the stu- dent should or should not be confident in
reading the
concentration of permanganate ion in the
unknown directly from the Beer's law plot.
A= -log(0.096) = 0.0177
(2) Convert the second percent transmittance to an
equivalent absorbance. Briefly explain why the student
could not have read this percent transmit- tance
accurately from the absorbance scale on the
spectrophotometer.
A= -log(0.003) = 1.52
(3) Briefly explain why the student should
or should not be confident in reading the
concentration of the second unknown directly
from the Beer’s law cloth.
Beer’s law plots have higher experimental
measurements errors (inaccuracies) at very low
and very high absorbance (concentration) values.
(4) Suggest something the student could do with the second
sample that would make the determination of the
concentration of permanganate ion more accurate.
You can dilute the sample (with a known volume of
water) so that the absorbance value is of an
intermediate value (between 0.1 and 1) and work back
from the Beer’s law plot to get the original
concentration.
2. Bathophenanthroline is a compound that forms
a red complex with iron (II). The molar
absorptivity for the complex is 22,350 L mol 1
cm ' at \ = 535 nm.
(1) Determine the molar concentration range
of the iron (II)—bathophenanthroline complex
that can be analyzed directly with a
spectrophotometer, using a 1-cm cuvette.
Molar absorptivity e = 22350 L mol^-1 cm^-1
Covette length, l = 1 cm
Beer law states the following equation: A = e x l x c
0 = 22350 x 1 x C
1 = 22350 x 1x C
C = 1 / 22350 = 4.47 x 10^ -5 M
(2) Convert the molar concentrations deter- mined in (1) to
grams of iron (II) per liter of solution. Comment on the
sensitivity of the method in deter- mining iron (II).
 Data Sheet 1

II. Determining the Analytical Wavelength

wavelength, nm % absorbance, A
T
480 0.024 A
500 0.213 A
520 0.307 A
540 0.310 A
560 0.195 A
580 0.088 A
600 0.010 A
analytical wavelength, nm
%T at analytical wavelength

III. Preparing a Beer’s Law Plot

original molarity of KMnO4 solution, M

volume of KMnO4 stocK solution used, mL

final volume of solution, after dilution, mL

soluti % absorbance, A
on T
0.310 A
2/
10ml
3/8ml 0.175 A
4/6ml 0.111 A
5/4ml 1.127 A
6/2ml 0.107 A
7/1ml 0.048 A

IV. Analyzing an Unknown Permanganate Ion Solution

code number
of unknown absorbance, A molarity, M
#1 0.036 A
#2 0.008 A
#3 0.130 A