Week 6 Experimental Procedure.

Open the Beer’s Law interactive, and select the Beer’s Law experiment.

Beer’s Law is: a=εbc

Absorption = (extinction coefficient)*(path length)*(concentration)

In the solution dropdown, select: (CoNo 3)2: Cobalt(II) nitrate.

Set the Wavelength to “Variable” and the slider to 380 nm. The width of the tube should remain at 1 cm
and the concentration at 100 mM for now. Set the meter to record Absorbance (since we are
discussing Beer’s law). Your setup should look similar to this (you can click and drag the ruler to
place under the solution if you like) :
Turn on the light (click the red button) and adjust the Wavelength slider to measure the Absorbance for
the following wavelengths and record your results in the second column:

Co(No3)2 KMnO4
Absorbance Absorbance Absorbance Absorbance
Wavelength (100mM; 1cm (325 mM; 1cm (100mM; 2cm (200μM; 1cm
path) path) path) path)
380
405
430
455
480
505
530
555
580
605
630
655
680
705
730
755
780

Adjust the concentration slider to 325 mM and record the absorbance as a function of wavelength in
the third column. Then drag the arrow on the container to increase the cell length to 2 cm and again
record the absorbance as a function of wavelength in the fourth column.

Plot the absorbance vs wavelength for each of these three trials on the same graph. A blank graph is
included in the worksheet for you to use.

Select KMnO4: Potassium Permanganate as the solution and change the concentration to 200 μM and
complete the last column in the table. Plot the first and fourth columns against the wavelength on a
single graph. A blank graph is included in the worksheet for you to use.

From graph 1 we can see that the absorbance is proportional to the number of molecules interacting
with the light on its path to the detector, but just from the absorption data we cannot tell whether the
absorption is due to the thickness of the material or the concentration of the absorbing material.

From graph 2 we can see that different materials not only have different frequencies for maximum
absorption, but also different shapes. That is, the way they absorb frequencies around the maximum
are different. Scientists use both the maximum frequency and the shape of the curve to identify specific
molecules.
Open the “Molecules and Light” interactive

Turn on the “light” and describe the interaction between the light and the molecule in the chart below
using the terms: rotate, vibrate, glow, dissociate, none. Be sure to wait for several photons to hit the
molecule before moving on to the next element or frequency range.

Microwave Infrared Visible Ultraviolet

Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Water
Nitrogen Dioxide
Ozone

This experiment illustrates that the interaction between light and molecules is very complex. The
introductory cartoon implied that photons are only released when an electron moves from a high
energy state to a lower one. For a simple atom like hydrogen, that is enough, but as molecules become
more complex they have more (quantized) energy levels that can absorb a photon (rotational,
vibrational, etc…). This interactive is very interesting because it shows molecules absorb a quantum of
energy, and also shows them releasing that energy in a different direction. That is, a detector in line
with the light source would show a decrease in photons due to the absorption, but that state is unstable
and the molecule does not stay in the high energy state for long.

Some questions to consider:

What wavelength would you use to quantify Co(No 3)2?

What wavelength would you use to quantify KMnO 4?

If you were watching a star and noticed a change in the intensity of light such as:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble-finds-that-betelgeuses-mysterious-dimming-is-
due-to-a-traumatic-outburst

Why do astronomers use words like “huge” and “massive” to describe the size of the cloud rather than
giving the size or density?

How does the “Molecules and Light” table help you to explain this picture: