Tyler Camack Using spectroscopic analysis to find an element Introduction The goal of this lab was to use spectroscopic

analysis to determine the differences in elements. Every element burns with a different spectroscopic signature, meaning that each element can be found and determined which it is by simply putting a flame to it. A spectroscope is a tool that can separate different wavelengths of light. Light wavelengths relate to atoms because in an earlier model, the Bohr model, electrons were on specific heights and when they had enough energy they would move, creating a different color. Each electron would move to another energy level but then drop back, leading to the emission of color. The model at this point is the quantum mechanical model, which is different from the Bohr model because instead of there being different levels for electrons to be on, it shows electrons in a cloud and this cloud changes as the energy level increases or decreases, which causes different light wavelengths to be emitted. By using spectroscopy, which is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy, we can determine which element is present. Each element burns a different color because of the different atoms within the element. If the atom is different that means it has more or less electrons, meaning that they can jump to different places more frequently than an atom with less electrons. Results Lab 1: (Figure 1) SrCl2

KCl

LiCl

NaCl

Unknown

Lab 2: (Figure 2) Solution NaCl CuCl2 LiCl KCl CaCl2 SrCl2 CaCO3 Na2CO3 K2SO4 CaSO4 Unknown 1 Unknown 2 Flame Color Orange Green Bright orange w/ pink & red Crimson Orange & yellow Bright red Some orange Bright orange Lavender Light Orange Orange/ CaCO3 Crimson/ KCl

Lab 3: (Figure 3) Unknown A:

Pink: 660-640 Blue: 480-460 Purple: 420 Hydrogen Unknown B:

Yellow: 620 Green: 560 Blue: 455 Purple: 440 Unknown C:

Green: 550 Blue: 455 Pink 435 Yellow: 630 Neon

Discussion The first set of tests that were conducted was to use a fiber optic tube and a computer program to look at specific wavelengths of light emitted during the burning of elements. It is similar to what we did in the second experiment, but more complicated and more precise. For this experiment we had four known elements (Figure 1) and one known element and based upon the four known elements we had to determine which element was unknown. This was the easiest of the three tests because the data was specific and right in front of us, whereas with the other experiments we had to estimate the wavelength number or base the answer based on our visual observations. I feel very confident that the unknown element was potassium chloride because potassium chloride had the same wavelength as the unknown element. Although the unknown potassium chloride was more intense than the labeled potassium chloride, it still had the same spectral signature (Figure 1) as the unknown. I think our results were correct based upon the methods that we used, which were the methods that were specified. The purpose of the second experiment was to use spectral signatures to identify elements based upon the light emitted while exposed to a flame. In this experiment we were given ten known elements and two unknown elements and based upon the known elements we had to determine the two unknown elements. During this experiment we exposed elements to a flame and recorded what we saw in terms of the color emitted. The colors ranged from a light orange which blended in with the flame to a bright green, which was emitted by copper chloride. Many of the light colors emitted were similar because for the most part they all were orange or had some orange hue to them, but a few didnt have any orange what so ever. I feel confident in my results because the two colors of the unknown elements didnt have much orange in them at all, which means it would have been difficult to confused one element with another. Although there is still a change of having our results being incorrect, I think we ended up getting the right results. Unknown one displayed an orange hue when it was exposed to an open flame, which means that it could have been one of many different elements and compounds tested. After many different experiments the different colors of orange could be distinguished and it ended up being very clearly one specific compound, calcium carbonate (Figure 2). As for the second unknown, the color emitted when exposed to a flame was different from every other color; it was a vibrant red color, almost an orange. The only other compound that was a crimson color was potassium chloride (Figure 2). The third experiment that was conducted was about spectroscopy and the use of a spectroscope to identify elements inside a tube that was exposed to an energy source. To do this we used a spectroscope and saw different colors of light when it was separated into wavelengths. Every element has a different spectroscopic signature when exposed to an energy source (Figure 3), which means that every tube that was a different color was a different element. The first element we found was hydrogen. We knew it was hydrogen because of the spectroscopic signature emitted. We had previously seen hydrogen in the classroom, but we didnt see it through the spectroscope so we didnt see the different light lines that were separated. The second element that we

found was neon, which we had also previously seen in class. As with the hydrogen, we had never seen this with a spectroscope so we never saw the different colors of lines. We had previously seen the separate lines with glasses, but we didnt see the different spectral lines and the wavelength number that it was, which helped us identify which element was which. The third and final element that we found was aluminum. This is the one that Im not sure about because this one was poorly identified. It was more difficult to see the different colors and therefore we couldnt come to a specific conclusion. I am confident with every other conclusion that we came to because we had previously seen them in class and I recognized them, but beyond that the spectral signatures were more clear.