HELP!!!!!

[PeaceLoveSmile]

hi!
I am currently working on the experiment, making a colorimeter to measure the concentration of blue dye in various liquids. I was wondering what "real life" problems this experiment might solve.

Also I was wondering, relating back to the experiment, why you place the orange colored water infront of the blue drink?

Thanks

[deleted-71709]

I hope you're having fun with this project.

One of the real life problems this experiment solves is controlling the quality of products that you and I buy every day. Many scientists who work in industry are responsible for running tests to make sure products do what they say, and always look the same. The example in the experiment about the color of a sports drink is a good one. Someone has to measure the color of each batch they make so it always looks the same on your grocery shelf.

If you have ever done any baking you might have used food colors. The people who make those food colors need to make sure they work the same every time you use them, so they have to measure the color concentration when they manufacture them.

To answer your question about the orange water in front of the blue water, take a look at the text just above Figrue 3: "The use of orange-colored light increases the device's sensitivity since the blue dye absorbs strongly in the orange part of the electromagnetic spectrum. " The cuvette containing the orange water, which is in front of the blue sample, is filtering the light. That is, it's making the light going into the blue sample orange-colored. This increases the sensitivity or your instrument.

I hope that helps.