Calculating The Composition of A Solution
If several known chemicals are dissolved in a single solution, the concentrations of each can be calculated using a light absorption analysis. First, the mass attenuation coefficients of each individual solute or solvent, ideally across a broad spectrum of wavelengths, must be measured or looked up. Second, the attenuation coefficient of the actual solution must be measured. Finally, using the formula
the spectrum can be fitted using as adjustable parameters. (Remember, and each are functions of wavelength.)
If there are N solutes or solvents, this procedure requires at least N measured wavelengths to create a solvable system of simultaneous equations, although using more wavelengths gives more reliable data.
Read more about this topic: Mass Attenuation Coefficient
Famous quotes containing the words calculating the, calculating, composition and/or solution:
“[The] elderly and timid single gentleman in Paris ... never drove down the Champs Elysees without expecting an accident, and commonly witnessing one; or found himself in the neighborhood of an official without calculating the chances of a bomb. So long as the rates of progress held good, these bombs would double in force and number every ten years.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“I know that the right kind of leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)
“Those Dutchmen had hardly any imagination or fantasy, but their good taste and their scientific knowledge of composition were enormous.”
—Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
“I can’t quite define my aversion to asking questions of strangers. From snatches of family battles which I have heard drifting up from railway stations and street corners, I gather that there are a great many men who share my dislike for it, as well as an equal number of women who ... believe it to be the solution to most of this world’s problems.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)