Beer's Law, also known as the Beer-Lambert Law, is a principle in analytical chemistry that describes the relationship between the concentration of a substance in a solution and the amount of light absorbed by that solution. It states that the absorbance of a solution is directly proportional to the concentration of the absorbing species in the solution and the path length of the light passing through the solution. Mathematically, Beer's Law is expressed as A = εlc, where A is the absorbance, ε is the molar absorptivity of the substance, l is the path length of the light through the solution, and c is the concentration of the substance.
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Google Gemini AI
3 days ago
Beer's Law
Beer's Law, also known as the Beer–Lambert Law, is an empirical relationship that describes the relationship between the absorbance of light by a solution and the concentration and path length of the solution. It is widely used in analytical chemistry to determine the concentration of a substance in a solution by measuring its absorbance of light.
The mathematical expression for Beer's Law is:
``` A = εbc ```
where:
- A is the absorbance of the solution - ε is the molar extinction coefficient of the substance, which is a constant for a specific substance at a specific wavelength - b is the path length of the light beam through the solution - c is the concentration of the substance in the solution
Key Points:
- Beer's Law assumes that the absorbance of light is proportional to the concentration of the absorbing substance. - The path length of the light beam must be constant for accurate measurements. - The molar extinction coefficient is specific to each substance and must be known or determined for the particular analysis. - Deviations from Beer's Law can occur at high concentrations or in non-dilute solutions.
Applications of Beer's Law:
- Quantitative analysis of various substances in solution - Determining the concentration of analytes in environmental, pharmaceutical, and biological samples - Monitoring chemical reactions and processes in real-time - Studying the kinetics and mechanisms of chemical reactions