Transmittance Lab Report

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The main purpose of this research lab was to determine the level of phosphate content within the colas and the relationship with phosphate and upset stomachs. Following, the logic was if the capacity of the phosphate was buffered, this will solve upset stomachs of individuals. However, the amount of phosphate cannot be directly determined so a series of steps and calculations to gain an understanding of the overall project. (Cooper,2008)
For starters, proper usage of a spectrophotometer must be mastered, and an understanding the relationship between absorbance, concentration, and percent transmittance must be gained. To gain a complete understanding, three different tests were done with three different samples of food coloring and the determination of the analytical wavelength was completed by using the spectrophotometer. The analytic wavelength is determined by the highest absorption rate of the component tested. Refer to Table 1 the results.
The same process using KMnO4 while finding the relationship between concentration and percent transmittance, which is the number of photons that can pass through without being absorbed. The goal of finding the percentage transmittance was to find a concentration that gives an absorption amount that would be able to give a percentage between 15 and 85. The first attempt a percentage of 13.8 …show more content…

However, the concentration level of everyday items is too concentrated to be analyzed by a spectrophotometer; Therefore, a 2-step dilution had to be done and was completed by diluting the phosphate content with 0.001M and again with 0.0002M. Following, 2mL of .0002M sample of phosphate with ammonium vanadomolybdate (AVM) to allow visibility because phosphate ions cannot absorb ultraviolet or visible light and AVM will allow absorbance without disturbing the phosphate content. Based on the results, the analytical wavelength was found, and a calibration curve was made. Table 3/Graph

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