AP CHEM: Beer’s Law Online Lesson

Objective: You will learn what Beer’s Law is and do an online simulation to practice with it.

1. Watch the video and answer the questions below.

a. What is the equation for Beer’s Law?

b. What is this law used to find?

c. What instrument is used and what does it measure?

d. What is the 472nm referring to and what does it communicate?

e. What is the relationship between concentration and absorbance?

f. What are “standards?”

g. What is the one major consideration need to pay attention to?

h. If using data to find an unknown concentration, the unknown MUST fall between the
________.

2. Simulation Explore all of the controls in both tabs of the sim for a few minutes.

Concentration Tab
1. Record 2 (or more) ways that you can accomplish the following actions in the simulation:
- Change the solution volume:
- Change the number of moles of solute:
- Change the molarity of the solution:

2. How are moles, volume, and molarity related? Make sure you put the detector into the
solution so you can read concentration.

Beer’s Law Tab Consider Beer’s Law: A = ε b C

(A = absorbance, ε = molar absorptivity, C = concentration, and b = path length). Make sure to

click on “absorbance.” This detector measures the light, not concentration so you do not put it
into the solution but you need to make sure it is in the path of the light beam. Move the detector
out of the light beam to verify that it is measuring absorbance of light.

3. a. Explain the relationship between A and C, using evidence from the simulation.

b. Widen/shorten the pathlength for the light. How is pathlength related to absorbance?

c. Change the wavelength of light. Do all wavelengths produce the same results?

d. Vary the solution and the concentration. How does absorbance change?
4. Choose a solution and make the concentration 100 uM. Set the path length to 1.0cm.

a. How does the concentration of a solution affect its appearance? (Does changing the
concentration change the color, or the intensity of the color?)

b. How does the concentration change the absorbance?

c. Would you expect the wavelength used to affect your absorbance versus
concentration relationship? What do you observe in the simulation?

d. Can the cation of the solute affect the color of a solution? Can the anion of the solute
affect the color of a solution? Provide supporting evidence for each of your responses.

BEER’S LAW LAB Experiment

1. Choose a solution from the simulation and measure the Absorbance for different
concentrations on the preset wavelength setting. Record data and graph it.

Data from the Simulation

Concentration Absorbance

2. Based on Beer’s Law A = ε b C, (A = absorbance, ε = molar absorptivity, b = pathlength

and C = concentration), do you expect using different wavelengths of light would change the
way your previous graph looks? Why or why not?

3 a. Compare three solutions of different colors with the same pathlength (width of container).

b. What combinations give the most absorbance? Why?

c. How are beam color, solution color, and absorbance related?

4. a. Choose a solution and keep concentration and pathlength constant as you graph
the absorbance for different wavelengths.

b. What is the value for the “preset” wavelength for your solution? Mark this point on your
graph.

c. Why do you think the “preset” wavelength is the best wavelength to use for this solution?

5. In a lab experiment monitoring the change in concentration of a reddish-brown substance,

FeNCS , a wavelength of 455 nm is used.
2+

a. Does this wavelength agree with your conclusions about beam color, solution
color, and absorbance above? Why or why not?

b. What other wavelengths might you consider using for FeNCS spectroscopy?
2+

Summary
1. How does the pathlength change the absorbance?

2. How does concentration change absorbance?

3. Describe in general terms which wavelength one should use when producing a
concentration vs absorbance graph.

4. What is a common application for Beer’s Law?