Camryn Sippy

10/14/15
Chemistry Period 6
Going Great Lengths to Identify Wavelengths
Introduction:
In the aftermath of the Gold King Mine Spill that contaminated Cement and ultimately
the Animas River, several organization such as the EPA have been trying to identify what
concentration of certain contaminants are in the river. Basic tests identifying the pH and
determining the creation of precipitates have been to get a basic understanding for whats in the
water and how much of it is there. During this Spectroscopy lab, we used different in methods
such as a flame test, spectrophotometry, and analysis using a spectroscope to identify different
elements in the water from the river. This investigation included looking at different wavelengths
and their corresponding emission lines see if said elements were present in the river in traceable
quantities.
One of the ideas that we investigated was the Bohr Model. The Bohr Model of the atom
is a model that consists of a small, positively charged nucleus at the center of the diagram. This
nucleus is orbited by negatively charged electrons. The idea is that the electrons occupy certain
orbits around the nucleus that correspond to the amount of energy that the electron inhabits. This
means that the closer the electron is to the nucleus, the less energy it has. The farther away, the
more energy is housed in the electron. Each different orbit that the electron can be on is called an
energy level. The Bohr Model has six different energy levels that the electrons can jump to as
they gain or lose energy. As an electron jumps up levels from gaining energy, it become unstable
and has to return back down to lower energy levels. As it steps down in levels, it discharges
energy in the form of light. Another display of the atom is the quantum mechanical model. Like
the Bohr Model, the quantum mechanical model has a positively charged nucleus orbited by
negatively charged electrons. Instead of having exact orbit lines that the electrons travel on, this
model exercises the idea of electron clouds. An electron cloud is an area where electrons are are
jumping and likely to be. These electron clouds form in rough orbits to show energy levels like
those in the Bohr Model.
When an electron does a step down from a high energy level to a low energy level, like
what happens in both the Bohr Model and the quantum mechanical model, the emitted energy
creates photons. The photons being emitted causes light to be formed. The higher the amount of
energy that is lost during a step down, the higher the frequency is of the energy is thats being
released. When there is a high frequency of energy, the wavelengths being created are short and
moving faster. Different wavelengths correspond with different colors on the atomic emission
spectrum. The collection of transitions an electron makes between energy levels, result in the
creation of atomic emission spectrum lines. The spectrum lines are expressed in prominent lines
or peaks of a certain wavelength of colors. Spectrum lines are able to be used to identify different
elements because they act as that elements fingerprint. Like a fingerprint, each element has its
own specific set of spectrum lines. Since different photons are being emitted at different
wavelengths, only certain colors will show up as spectrum lines because only those photons are
present. This determines the identity of the element.
Spectroscopy is the measurement of emission intensity through wavelengths to determine
the quantity of an element in a sample. This is typically done by lighting the sample on fire in
order to turn it into plasma. When the sample becomes plasma, the molecules are ionized and

will burn a certain color determined by what element it is. A spectrophotometer is an instrument
that is designed to capture the light being transmitted from a flame. It measures the wavelength
or color of the light which is then recorded on either the device itself or an accompanying
computer. The wavelength measurements are recorded on a rainbow colored screen where peaks
rise in the most frequently occurring wavelength areas. These peaks that forms have a
corresponding wavelength numbers which are then analyzed to determine what element is
present in the sample. In order for spectral lines to be identified through spectroscopy and the use
of a spectrophotometer to work, the sample being used has to turn into a plasma. A plasma is a
form of gas that becomes ionized when the nuclei in atoms separate from the electrons in the
atom. Electrons detach from the rest of the atom, light is created which forms the spectral lines
used for element identification.
An inductively coupled atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) is a device used to
detect the presence of trace metals in a sample. It does this by using inductively coupled plasma,
where the plasmas energy comes from electrical currents, to emit wavelengths that are picked up
by sensors. In order for this machine to work, the sample must first be blasted into the torch by
argon gas.The torch allows for the atoms to decompose then atomize to create light. The atoms
are then charged through a magnetic field using a coil of wires. This light is then entered into the
optical system where it is defracted multiple times to create spectrum lines. This defracted light
is then fed into a highly sensitive sensor where the spectrum lines are measured. Once this
happens, the recorded spectrum lines are then used for analysis.
Results Part 1:
Table 1:
Solution:

Flame Color:

Control

No reaction

NaCl (sodium chloride)

Orange

CuCl2 (copper chloride)

Green

LiCl (lithium chloride)

Red/Orange

KCl (potassium chloride)

Purple

CaCl2 (calcium chloride)

Bright Orange

SrCl2 (strontium chloride)

Red

Water Sample: CC#13

Slightly Orange

Water Sample: MC#4

No Change

Unknown 1

Orange

Unknown 2

Purple

Discussion Part 1:
After doing the first part of the experiment, it was concluded that Unknown 1 was sodium
chloride and Unknown 2 was potassium chloride. The first step of this experiment was to soak a
piece of melamine foam on the end of a piece of nichrome wire in solution for roughly 30

seconds. After soaking the foam, it was then lit on fire using a Bunsen burner. When different
elements are lit on the fire, the flame turns a certain color that corresponds with that element. By
lighting the solution-saturated foam on fire, we were able to record what color the flame was
burning and then compare it to the flame colors of the reference test solutions recorded prior.
Besides potassium chloride reference test solution, based on the lack of other elements burning
with a purple flame, it can be said that Unknown 2 definitely contained potassium chloride. Yet
Unknown 1 could possibly contain other elements. When this part of the lab was done, multiple
reference test solutions burned in some variation of the color orange. Sodium chloride (NaCl),
lithium chloride (LiCl), and calcium chloride (CaCl2) all burned with an orange hued flame, yet
they all had their differences. Since these three different reference test solutions had an orange
flame, it leads us to believe that while Unknown 1 is most likely sodium chloride due to the most
similarities in the flame, it could also be one of the other two orange burning elements. During a
spectroscopy test, when the test solution is absorbed by the melamine foam, then lit on fire using
a Bunsen burner, it releases a certain color. In the reference solutions that were used for this test,
there is a combination of one metal and a nonmetal. For example, in the reference solution
copper chloride (CuCl2), the metal is copper and the nonmetal is the chloride. This combination
is the same for all of the reference solutions in this lab. When each solution is lit on fire, the
metal in the solution is what determines the color of the flame because it is a different metal in
every solution. Since the chloride is constant for every solution, it does not affect the color of the
flame during the test.
For this experiment, the control that was used was the just a plain piece of melamine
foam attached to a piece of nichrome wire. Like the other tests, this piece of foam was burned
using a Bunsen burner and the color of the flame was recorded for later reference. The color of
the flame when the control sample was burned was the same color as the original blue flame.
This was showing that the foam itself was not going to impede the solution testing and alter the
results. The role of the control is to set a baseline for the original color of the flame, that way we
can determine when the flame is burning at a natural color or when there has been a contaminant
added. After testing water samples from different locations on the Cement Creek and Mineral
Creek, this is what we found. From the CC#13 location, the solution burned with a slightly
orange flame meaning that either sodium chloride (NaCl) or calcium chloride (CaCl) were
present at this location. Yet it is hard to say exactly which one because the flame colors were so
similar. From the MC#4 location, there was no change in the flame when the solution was lit on
fire. This means that none of the contaminants we were looking for are in water at this site.
Results Part 2:
In this part of the experiment, we measured the wavelengths from the reference solutions again
using a spectrophotometer to get a baseline for our data. By doing this, the Unknown sample and
the contaminants in the test water samples could be identified. Overall, the reference solutions
were measured at theses peaks:
Image 1: Potassium Chloride
Peak Wavelength:775.4

Image 2: Sodium Chloride

Peak Wavelength: 590.3

Image 3: Lithium Chloride

Peak Wavelength: 672.3

Image 4: Strontium Chloride

Peak Wavelengths: 684.6, 673.1, 605.8, 449.1

The unknown solution tested at this wavelength where its highest peak was closest to that of the
potassium reference solution:
Image 5: Unknown Solution
Peak Wavelength: 771.4

The water sample tests that were performed, showed that none of the reference solution
contaminants were peaking out at high levels in the water. This means that these contaminants
were either not in the water at all or not present in high enough concentrations to be detected:

Image 6: Water Sample A68#7

Image 7: Water Sample SFCC#23

Discussion Part 2:
In this part of the experiment, it is possible to detect different metals in the presence of
each other by identifying the peak wavelengths. Certain elements have certain peak wavelengths
which are used to distinguish each individual element. Since certain peaks correspond with
certain wavelengths, the presence of another metal is determined by the excess peaks. For
example, if a spectrophotometer were to measure the wavelength coming from a sodium chloride
flame, it would pick up the two major peaks in the 590 range. If this sodium chloride solution
were to be contaminated and lit on fire yet again, the spectrophotometer would pick up the other
wavelength peaks, allowing us to record the presence of another substance. Potassium chloride
was the only metal present in our unknown sample. When this test was done, it took the
spectrophotometer a longer time to pick up specific wavelengths from the sample. Once it finally
did, the wavelength it was presenting didnt exactly match any of the reference sample
wavelengths that appeared earlier. Yet the unknown sample wavelength numbers did come
closest to those of potassium chloride, causing us to believe that this sample contained some
level of potassium chloride.
The way a spectrophotometer records the wavelength data on the computer software,
comes in the form of peaks. These wavelength peaks look a little bit like mountain ranges over a
rainbow colored background where the highest peak on the page symbolizes the most prominent
color. When the wavelengths are identified through a spectroscope, the highest wavelengths are
visible in the form of spectral lines. There lines show up on a visible spectrum scale where
certain colors correspond to certain numbers. This device then allows the viewer to only see the
peak wavelengths by only showing those colors corresponding with that wavelength. When the
EPA did their tests on the water, ions such as calcium, potassium, iron and sodium were present
in detectable amounts. Based on tests done by the EPA, it seemed that we would have at least
found the presence of calcium in the water. After doing this test, it was determined that there was
not recordable presence of metals in the water. During the spectrophotometer part of the lab, the
water samples did not show the right wavelength for containing any of the reference solution
contaminants or any other highly detectable contaminant. This means that these metal are not in
the water at high enough concentrations to be detected any longer. This makes sense because the
time that spans from when the EPA did their tests and when we did ours, is a couple of weeks.
Since the plume was headed down stream, the metals dispersed throughout the water and
eventually became more and more diluted as the time passed.

Results Part 3:
These images are examples of the emission lines that were visible through the use of a
spectroscope. The spectroscope allowed us to see the fingerprint, or the color and wavelength, of
a specific element and helped us identify Unknown samples. Here hydrogen, mercury, and
helium were identified using approximated fingerprint wavelengths:
Image 1: H (Hydrogen)
Peak Wavelengths: 430, 480, 660

Image 2: Hg (Mercury)
Peak Wavelengths: 435, 545

Image 3: He (Helium)
Peak Wavelengths: 410, 445, 510, 592

Discussion Part 3:

The elements that were detected during the spectroscope portion of the lab were
hydrogen, mercury, and helium. This was determined by looking at a spectrum tubes for three
unknown elements through a spectroscope. The spectroscope diffracted the wavelengths of the
light given off of the spectrum tubes and presented the emission lines on a visible spectrum. The
lines show on the visible spectrum were the peaks or defining wavelength for that tube. Since
each element has a certain visible spectrum with particular peak wavelengths, we were able to
identify the elements from the placement of the emission lines. We knew that hydrogens (image
1) most commonly seen peaks were at around 410, 440, 480, and 660, allowing us to assign the
element hydrogen to Unknown A. Peaks at around 435, 547, and 580 are commonly seen for
mercury (image 2) allowing us to assign it to Unknown B, and Unknown C to the peaks 443,
505, and 588 of helium (image 3). By using a spectroscope to observe the emission lines, it is
possible that you are not seeing all of the possible emission lines for a given element. This is
because the device isnt powerful enough to present all of the spectral lines in a way that the
viewer could see them with a naked eye. Some of the spectral lines that correspond with certain
elements arent bright enough to show up on the visible spectrum, because of this we only see
certain spectral lines and not the full spectrum of lines. These lines that arent visible through the
spectroscope are dimmer because the electrons are not releasing large amounts of energy like the
bright lines. In these dimmer lines, the electrons are making smaller energy step downs, like
explained in the Bohr Model, than the electrons producing bright light which are making large
energy changes. Due to this, certain lines appear more prominent on a visible spectrum line than
others.