ConstructingaCameraSpectrophotometer

Materials
AsmallwhiteLEDlightbulb.Suggested:aUltraWhiteLED5mm

Apowersourceforthelightbulb.Suggested:a3Vcoinbattery

Asmallvisiblelightgrating.Suggested:A500line/mmlineardiffractiongrating,suchasthosesoldatRainbow
Symphony

Asampleofcoloredliquidprimarycolorsgiveeasilyinterpretedresults.Suggested:RedKoolaid,foodcoloring,
orsimilarsubstance.
KoolaidMan

Acuvette(somethingtoholdtheliquidin).Suggested:Astandardglassvial

Awaytokeepthelight,cuvette,andgratingstationary.Suggested:ApieceofStyrofoam.

Acamera

Puttingitalltogether
1.Prepareseveralsamplesofdifferentconcentrations.Ifusingapowdereddrink,measuretheconcentrations
oftheKoolaid(ing/mL,scoops/L,orwhateverothermeasurementsystemisconvenient).Ifusingfood
coloring,measurethenumberofdropsthatgointoyoursample.Theimportantthingistohavea
quantitativemeasurementofhowmuchhasgoneintothesample.
2.Tapethelightandpowersourcetoyoursampleholder,andpositionthegratingaboutafootawayfromthe
sample.Inordertoseethespectrum,thegratingwillneedtobepositionedatanangletothelightsource.
3.Turnoffasmanylightsintheroomasyoucanwhilestillbeingabletoseewhatyouaredoingreasonably
well.
4.PositionyourcuvetteinfrontofthelightsourcesothelightfromtheLEDshinesthroughwhenyoulook
throughthegrating.Markyourpositionsothatyoucaneasilyplaceallofyoursamplesinthesamespot.
5.Takea'blank'reading:fillthecuvettewithclearwater,placeitinyoursamplespotandtakeapictureofthe
resultingspectrum.
6.Takepicturesofthespectrathatcomefromeachofyoursamples.
7.Uploadthepicturesintotheprogram,whichcanbedownloadedhere.Loadthepictureofyourwater
readingbygoingto'file>loadreference(right)>(yourdirectorypathway)',thendothesametoyour
samplespectrumbygoingto'file>loadsample(left)>(yourdirectorypathway)'.Dependingonyour
camera,youmayneedtoresizethepicturesinaprogramsuchasWindowsPhotoEditorbeforeyoucansee
theentirespectrumtodothisinPhotoEditor,simplyimportthefiles,selectyourpicture,goto'edit',
choose'resizepicture'andshrinkthepicturetowhateverpercentagefitsthescreen.
8.Oncethespectraareuploaded,simplyclickononesideofthesamplespectrumonyourscreen.Aboxwill
appear,askingyoutospecifyifitistheredorblueendofthespectrum.Choosethecorrectanswerand
repeattheprocedureattheotherendofyoursample.Thereshouldnowbeagreenlineconnectingthered
andblueendsofyourspectrum.Runthroughthesameprocedurewithyourreferencespectrum.
9.Spendabitoftimeexploringthe'Plottraceselection'portion.Tryoverlayingthesampleandreference
spectrumandcomparethetwo.
10.Clickonthe'Makeplot,computeT,computeA'button,thenonthe'GenerateCSVfileforExcel'button.
SavetheExcelfileanywherethatisconvenientforyou.
11.OpentheExcelfileandmakeplotsoftheabsorbanceandtransmittanceversusthewavelength.Howarethe
twoplotsrelated?

EnLiSTChemistryWorkshop,UniversityofIllinois,2009