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7: Molecular Spectroscopy

  • Page ID
    401474
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    • 7.1: Spectroscopy Based on Absorption
      In absorption spectroscopy a beam of electromagnetic radiation passes through a sample. Much of the radiation passes through the sample without a loss in intensity. At selected wavelengths, however, the radiation’s intensity is attenuated. This process of attenuation is called absorption.
    • 7.2: UV/Vis and IR Spectroscopy
      Earlier we examined Nessler’s method for matching the color of a sample to the color of a standard. Matching colors is labor intensive for the analyst and, not surprisingly, spectroscopic methods of analysis were slow to find favor. With the introduction of photoelectric transducers for ultraviolet and visible radiation, and thermocouples for infrared radiation, modern instrumentation for absorption spectroscopy routinely became available in the 1940s—further progress has been rapid ever since.


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