Shedding light on spectrophotometry : the SpecUP educational spectrophotometer
Loading...
Date
Authors
Forbes, Patricia B.C.
Nöthling, Johan Antowan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Open Journals
Abstract
Students often regard laboratory instruments as ‘black boxes’ which generate results, without understanding
their principles of operation. This lack of understanding is a concern because the correct interpretation of
analytical results and the limitations thereof is invariably based on an understanding of the mechanism
of measurement. Moreover, a number of tertiary institutions in Africa have very limited resources and
access to laboratory equipment, including that related to the field of photonics, which prevents students
from acquiring hands-on practical experience. We address both of these challenges by describing how
students can assemble a novel, low-cost spectrophotometer, called the SpecUP, which can then be
used in a range of experiments. The same kind of information can be generated as that obtained with
costly commercial spectrophotometers (albeit of a lower quality). With the SpecUP, students also have
the opportunity to vary instrumental parameters and to observe the effects these changes have on their
experimental results, allowing for enquiry-based learning of spectroscopic principles. The results obtained
for some chemistry-related spectrophotometric experiments are described for each of the two operational
modes of the SpecUP, although the instrument can be applied in fields ranging from physics to biochemistry.
Description
Keywords
Spectrophotometry, Educational, Spectrophotometer, Photonics, SpecUP
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Forbes PBC, Nöthling JA. Shedding light on spectrophotometry: The SpecUP educational spectrophotometer. S Afr J Sci. 2014;110(1/2), Art. #2013-0096, 5 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.1590/sajs.2014/20130096