Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello. I need help finding the significance of the maximum absorbance of a colored solution. I did my project on building my own spectrophotometer and my question was: how is visible light absorbed by different colored solutions. It involves the science of spectrophotometry and i need to know the importance and how it affects our world about finding the maximum absorbance of different colored solutions. Please, if anyone knows, answer as quick as you can.

Hi chem23,

The general methods you used to study specific dyes can be used to investigate a range of other problems. For example, in my field of work scientists used spectrometers to measure the absorbance of light transmitted through samples of rocks and minerals. This approach lets us measure the amount of water in the glasses created when volcanoes erupt. We care about making such measurements because knowing how much water is in volcanic glasses is an important piece of the puzzle in figuring out what makes volcanoes erupt when they do. Other researchers that I know are studying how spectroscopy and spectrophotometry might be used to search for organic compounds on Mars. Some researchers in the medical field use spectrophotometry to measure the amount of specific enzymes in the blood of people who have had heart attacks. The same principles you use to look at the absorbance of food dyes are the principles that enable scientists to make all of these other kinds of measurements.