instructables

DIY LED-photometer With Arduino for Physics or Chemistry Lessons

by stoppi71

Hello!
Liquids or other objects appear colored because they
re ect or transmit certain colors and in turn swallow
(absorb) others. With a so-called photometer, those
colors (wavelengths) can be determined, which are
absorbed by liquids. The basic principle is simple: with a
LED of a certain color you rst shine through a cuvette
lled with water or another solvent. A photodiode
measures the incoming light intensity and converts it
into a proportional voltage U0. This value is noted.
Thereafter, a cuvette with the liquid to be examined is
placed in the beam path and again measures the light
intensity or voltage U. The transmission factor in percent
is then simply calculated by T = U / U0 * 100. To get the
absorption-factor A you just have to calculate A = 100
minus T.
This measurement is repeated with di erently colored
LEDs and determines in each case T or A as a function of
the wavelength (color). If you do this with enough LEDs,
you get an absorption curve.

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Step 1: The Parts

For the photometer you need the following parts: * 6 resistors with 100, 1k, 10k, 100k, 1M and 10M ohms:
ebay resistors

* A black case with the dimensions 160 x 100 x 70 mm or * an I²C 16x2 display: ebay 16x2 display
similar: housing
* a 2x6 rotary switch: rotary switch
* An Arduino Nano: ebay arduino nano
* a 9V battery holder and a 9V battery: battery holder
* An operational ampli er LF356: ebay LF356
* a switch: switch
* 3 capacitors with a capacity of 10μF: ebay capacitors
* Glass cuvettes: ebay cuvettes
* 2 capacitors with C = 100nF and a capacitor with 1nF:
ebay capacitors * LEDs with di erent color: f.e. ebay LEDs

* One voltage inverter ICL7660: ebay ICL7660 * a simple 0-15V power supply to power the LEDs

* One photodiode BPW34: ebay BPW34 photodiode * wood for the cuvette-holder

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Step 2: The Circuit and the Arduino-code

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The circuit for the photometer is very simple. It consists
of a photodiode, an operational ampli er, a voltage-
inverter and some other parts (resistors, switches,
capacitors). The principle of this type of circuit is to
convert the (low) current from the photodiode into a
higher voltage, which can be read by the arduino nano.
The multiplication-factor is determined by the value of
the resistor in the feedback of the OPA. To be more
exible I took 6 di erent resistors, which can be chosen
with the rotary switch. The lowest "magni cation" is 100,
the highest 10 000 000. Everything is powered by a
single 9V battery.

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FPG/T2KD/JVE7OL13/FPGT2KDJVE7OL13.ino

Step 3: First Experiment: the Absorption-curve of Chlorophyll

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For the measuring procedure: A cuvette is lled with
water or another
transparent solvent. This is then placed in the
photometer. The cuvette is being covered with a light-
tight lid. Now set the power supply for the LED so that a
current of about 10-20mA ows through the LED. After
that, use the rotary switch to select the position at which
the output voltage of the photodiode is around 3-4V.
The ne tuning of the output voltage can still be done
with the adjustable power supply. This voltage U0 is
noted. Then take the cuvette containing the liquid to be
examined and place it in the photometer. At this point
the voltage of the power supply and the position of the
rotary switch must remain unchanged! Then cover the
cuvette again with the lid and measure the voltage U.
For the transmission T in percent the value is T = U / U0 *
100. To get the absorption coe cient A you just have to
calculate A = 100 - T.
I bought the di erent colored LEDs from Roithner
Lasertechnik which is located in austria, my home
country. For these, the respective wavelength is given in
nanometers. To be really sure one can check the
dominant wavelength with a spectroscope and the
Theremino software (theremino spectrometer). In my
case, the data in nm agreed with the measurements
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quite good. When selecting the LEDs, you should
achieve as even coverage of the wavelength range from
395nm to 850nm.
For the rst experiment with the photometer I chose
chlorophyll. But for this you’ll have to pluck grass from a
meadow hoping that no one is watching you ...
This grass is then cut into small pieces and put together
with propanol or ethanol in a pot. Now you crush the
leaves with a mortar or a fork. After a few minutes, the
chlorophyll has dissolved nicely in the propanol. This
solution is still too strong. It needs to be diluted with
su cient propanol. And to avoid any suspended the
solution has to be ltered. I took a common co ee- lter.
The result should look like as shown in the picture. A
very translucent green-yellowish solution. Then you
repeat the measurement (U0, U) with each LED. As it can
be seen from the obtained absorption curve, theory and
measurement agree quite well. Chlorophyll a + b
absorbs very strongly in the blue and red spectral range,
while green-yellow and infrared light can penetrate the
solution almost unhindered. In the infrared range, the
absorption is even close to zero.
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Step 4: Second Experiment: the Dependence of the Extinction on the Concentration of
Potassium Permanganate

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As a further experiment, the determination of the
extinction depending on
the concentration of the solute o ers. As a solute, I use
potassium permanganate. The light intensity after
penetrating the solution follows the Lambert-Beer law:
It reads I = I0 * 10 ^ (- E). I0 is the intensity without solute,
I the intensity with solute and E the so-called extinction.
This extinction E depends (linearly) on the thickness x of
the cuvette and on the concentration c of the solute.
Thus, E = k * c * x with k as the molar absorption
coe cient. To determine the extinction E you just need I
and I0, because E = lg (I0 / I). When the intensity is
reduced to, for example, 10%, the extinction E = 1 (10 ^ -
1). With a weakening to only 1%, E = 2 (10 ^ -2).
If one applies E as a function of the concentration c, we
would expect to obtain a rising straight line through the
zero point.
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As you can see from my extinction curve, it is not linear.
At higher concentrations, it attens, speci cally from
concentrations greater than 0.25. This means that the
extinction is lower than would be expected according to
the Lambert-Beer law. However, considering only lower
concentrations, for example between 0 and 0.25, results
in a very nice linear relationship between the
concentration c and the extinction E. In this range, the
unknown concentration c can be determined from the
measured extinction E. In my case, the concentration has
only arbitrary units, since I have not determined the
initial amount of dissolved potassium permanganate (it
has been only milligrams, which couldn’t be measured
with my kitchen-scale in my case, dissolved in 4 ml water
for the starting solution).
Step 5: Conclusions

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This photometer is particularly suitable for physics and Eureka!
chemistry lessons.
The total cost is only around 60 Euro = 70 USD. The Last but not least I'd be very happy if you could vote for
di erent colored LEDs are the most expensive part. On me in the classroom-science-contest. Thank's for that...
ebay or aliexpress you will certainly nd cheaper LEDs
but usually you do not know which wavelengths the And if you are interested in further physics experiments,
LEDs have. Seen in this way, purchasing from a specialist here's my youtube-channel:
retailer is recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stopperl16/videos?
In this lesson you learn something about the relation
between the colour of liquids and their absorption-
behavior, about the important Chlorophyll, the more physics projects: https://stoppi-homemade-
Lambert-Beer law, exponentials, transmission and physics.de/
absorption, calculation of percents and the wavelengths
of the visible colours. I think this is quite a lot...

So have fun also making this project in your lesson and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoVuUctSyBE

I saw the Youtube video. In the video you used 11 different colour LED's to make 11
measurements (1 per wavelength), but your excel plot shows 18 measurements at 18 different
wavelengths. How did you measure the other 7 wavelengths?
Hi Jamie!
First my compliment, you looked very accurate... I've ordered 12 LEDs from Roithner
Lasertechnik, the remaining 6 I had already at home. So no miracle or scam ;-)
Good luck with your photometer, cheers Christoph (stoppi)
Ah I see! I like this method, much less uncertainty than using a diffraction grating. An excellent
project, well done!
Hello. Very nice job. As you wrote RGB are just three wavelength LEDs, and colors we see are
just a perception. Which colors (or wavelength, it's better) do you advice to use?
Hi! You can see those LEDs I'm using for this photometer in the pictures. I've bought them from
Roithner Lasertechnik, located in vienna (austria). With those LEDs I cover the whole spectrum
from 400nm to 850nm well. I tried to have just 20-30nm gaps between the wavelengths. On ebay
you get 850nm IR, 395nm UV and some others. But f.e. I haven't found 5mm LEDs with lambda
between 660 and 760nm. For these LEDs a Laser-LED-company would be the right choice.
There are some companies like Roithner Lasertechnik in the USA for sure...
Thank you for your advice. Since I'm in Italy, Austria should be my best choice. Of course you got
my vote. Keep going on this way.
A GREAT JOB.. THANKS FOR SHARING.. GOT MY VOTE!..

thank's a lot ;-)

Very nice project indeed. It will be very helpful if you may be able to demonstrate it on Youtube!!

Hello! You can see the way how to use it on youtube, just look at the video at the end...

Nice project.

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Rather than use a series of different LEDs would it not be possible to drive an RGB LED from
your Arduino and have the Arduino run the single diode through the entire color scale?

I think the quality of the wavelength for RGBw are not as precise.

Hi! When you use a RGB-Led you don't have different wavelengths even when the color
changes. For example when the red and green led are on, then you get a yellow but no yellow
wavelength. Therefore it isn't meaningful to use a RGB-Led. Better than so many different LEDs
would be a continuous spectrum, which you would get with a monochromator consisting of a
white light source, a f.e. Diffraction grating and slits. But on the other hand the light intensity of
each wavelength would be much lower then my different LEDs and the setup would be more
complicated
nice work - I like it!

Thank's...

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