4) Two of the older elemental analysis methods that are still used are atomic ab

Question

4) Two of the older elemental analysis methods that are still used are atomic absorption and atomic emission spectroscopy. The atomic emission spectroscopy method is little more than a fancy version of the flame test where you very carefully measure the light emitted from excited metal atoms. Atomic absorption is the exact opposite; you shine a broad-band light through a vaporized mixture of elements and see which wavelengths of light are absorbed and not transmitted. If you are conducting a metals analysis of a blood sample and you observe that 585 nm light is being absorbed, what element is present in the blood sample? (and make sure you select an element that we have covered in lab that is likely to be found in a blood sample.) 5) A student is investigating the light emission from hydrogen atoms. They have a power supply attached to a photon emission tube like the ones in lab. The student starts increasing the energy nt lig sat be emitted. a) What color was the first visible light that was emitted? b) How do you know what the color was? 6) "Neon" signs come in many colors, but that is beacause different gases are used in the discharge tubes. "Neon" signs that actual use neon as their excitation gas come in excatly one color. What color is it? (i.e. What is the color you see with your eye?)

Explanation / Answer

4. The element is sodium (Na) which has a maximum-absorption wavelength of 589nm (this doesn't mean that the absorption won't be present at 585nm like the problem states, of course it'll be present, as a general rule we can work 10 nm before and after the maximum wavelength, meaning that experiments going from 579nm to 599nm will generate good results); and well, sodium is more than likely to be present in blood samples because sodium is part of our daily-diet.

Note: Iron (Fe) which may be the first answer that can come to our minds as we read this question, has a maximum absorption wavelength of 249nm, so it's very far from the 585nm mentioned in the problem.

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