Beer- Lambert Law

Table of contents

0 What is Beer-
Lambert Law 0 History

1 2
0 The
Absorbance of 0 Molar
extinction
a Solution coefficient
3 4
 Table of contents

0 Beer-Lambert
Law Graph 0 Application of
Beer -Lambert
Law
5 6
0 Limitations of
the law 0 Bibliography

7 8
 What is Beer-Lambert
Law?
The Beer-Lambert law relates the concentration of a sample to the amount
of light the sample absorbs as it passes through the sample. The equation
for the Beer-Lambert Law is generally written as:

A= ϵLc where, A= Absorbance

ϵ = Molar extinction coefficient

L = Path length

C = Concentration of the sample

 History
The beer –lambert law is also known as Beer’s law, the Lambert-Beer law
or the Beer-Lambert-Bouguer Law. In 1729 Pierre Bouger discovered the
law and published it in Essai d’optique sur la gradation de la lumiere. In
1760 Lambert quoted the Bouger’s discovery in his Photometria which
states that the absorbance of a sample is directly proportional to the path
length of light. Lambert did not claim any discovery, but he was often
credited with it. In 1852, August Beer discovered that absorbance is
proportional to the sample concentration. Generally, beers law relates only
to concentration while Beer-Lambert law relates absorbance to both
concentration and thickness of a sample.
The absorbance of a solution
For each wavelength of light passing through the spectrometer, the intensity of
the light passing through the reference cell is measured. This is usually referred
to as Io - that's I for Intensity.

The intensity of the light passing through the sample cell is also measured for
that wavelength - given the symbol, I. If I is less than Io, then the sample has
absorbed some of the light (neglecting reflection of light off the cuvette surface).
A simple bit of math is then done in the computer to convert this into something
called the absorbance of the sample - given the symbol, A.
The absorbance of a solution
The absorbance of a transition depends on two external assumptions.

1. The absorbance is directly proportional to the concentration (c) of the

solution of the sample used in the experiment.

A∝c ………(1)

2. The absorbance is directly proportional to the length of the light path (l),
which is equal to the width of the cuvette.

A∝l ………(2)
The absorbance of a solution
Combining Equations 1 and 2 :

A ∝ cl

This proportionality can be converted into an equality by including a

proportionality constant (ϵ).

A = ϵcl

This formula is the common form of the Beer-Lambert Law.

Molar extinction coefficient (ϵ)
The molar extinction coefficient is specific to every chemical and an
important variable in the Beer-Lambert law. The molar extinction
coefficient measures how much light a substance absorbs and is
wavelength specific. It is also sometimes referred to as the molar
absorption coefficient or molar absorptivity. In equations, it is most often
symbolized as epsilon, ϵ.

The units of the molar extinction coefficient are most commonly M-1cm-
1. The units should match the units of the path length and sample
concentration. That way the absorbance results in a unitless number.

.
 Beer-Lambert Law Graph
A typical graph illustrating the Beer-Lambert law will
be linear and positively correlated. The x-axis will
have units of concentration and the y-axis will be
absorbance. This indicates that the other two variables
in the equation, molar extinction coefficient and path
length, are held constant. As the concentration
increases, the absorbance will also increase. This
pattern makes sense because if the concentration
increases, there are more molecules present to absorb
light and cause an increase in absorption.
Application of Beer-Lambert
Law
The Beer-Lambert law is commonly used for determining the
concentration of a sample of unknown concentration, important for
experiments such as the Iodine Clock Reaction. To do this, first
absorbance of multiple samples of known concentration are measured. A
spectrometer makes this measurement. These points fit to a line. The line
will have a slope of the molar extinction coefficient times the path length.
Dividing this by the path length gives the molar extinction coefficient. The
absorption of the unknown sample can then be measured. The absorption
divided by the path length times the molar extinction coefficient will then
give the concentration of the sample.

.
 Limitation of the law
The law tends to become inaccurate at high concentrations. This is due to
a combination of different factors. The refractive index of the solution
may deviate. There are saturation and aggregation effects possible due to
the molecule of interest interacting with each other (not just solvent as is
the situation at low concentrations). A way to test the limitations of the
Beer-Lambert Law is to make a plot of concentration verse absorption at
increasingly high concentrations for a sample. The plot should be linear,
but at high concentrations will stop being linear. At this point, high
concentrations are causing the law to be inaccurate.

.
 Bibliography

● Chemistry LibreTexts
● ChemTalk
● testbook
THANK YOU!

Name - Anusha Dwivedi

Roll Num - 2022UBT1011