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Chemistry Forums for Students => Undergraduate General Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: clueless_student on March 15, 2012, 05:00:19 PM

Title: Beer's law lab question
Post by: clueless_student on March 15, 2012, 05:00:19 PM
I recently did a lab that used a spectrophotometer for measuring the absorbance of the sports drink Gatorade.   I was able to answer all of the lab questions except for one:


1.  Commercial Gatorade tends to appear cloudy due to the presence of suspended solids.  Explain how the presence of suspended solids can impact its absorbance measurement.


would the suspended solids cause the absorbance measurement to be higher than it normally would?  I guess Im not really sure of the relationship between suspended solids and an absorbance measurement. Thanks in advance for any help.

 
Title: Re: Beer's law lab question
Post by: Arkcon on March 15, 2012, 05:03:07 PM
That's a good guess, but now you have to justify it, based on how a spectrophotometer works, so you'll actually get full points for the response.  Can you try to compare the same liquid, with and without suspended solids, in an instrument?