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Spectra of the Month Experiments

Examining Spectroscopy And Colorimetry’s Accuracy And Reliability For Color Analysis

Posted on: March 28th, 2023

Background/Applications: Colorimetry is a measurement method used to quantify the color of a substance or object by the intensity and wavelength of light absorbed, transmitted, or reflected by the sample. This is often expressed in terms of the RGB (red-green-blue) scale but can also be represented in HEX scale and L*a*b*. The L*a*b* color space…

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Comparison of Chocolate Types Utilizing Absorbance Spectroscopy

Posted on: February 27th, 2023

Background/Applications: Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular holidays both nationally and globally. The holiday of romance as we know it began around the 14th century as a celebration of love and a time to give affectionate greetings and gifts, the most popular of which being beautiful-smelling flowers or sweet-tasting chocolates. While the term…

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Absorbance Spectroscopy to Detect Differences in Sparkling Water Flavor

Posted on: January 29th, 2023

Background/Applications: Each year, many people make New Year’s resolutions which are personal goals or commitments that a person makes for the New Year, often related to self-improvement. One of the most common resolutions is losing weight or generally having a healthier diet. To maintain eating healthier, many individuals will replace high-calorie soft drinks with sugar-free…

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Measuring the Chlorophyll in Poinsettias with Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Posted on: December 18th, 2022

Background/Applications: Chlorophyll is the essential pigment that allows plants to absorb energy from light. It absorbs light most strongly in the blue and red portions of the visible spectrum and weakest in the green portions of the spectrum, which gives it its recognizable green color. Detection of chlorophyll dates back to the early 19th century…

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Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Tryptophan in Turkey and Milk

Posted on: November 21st, 2022

Background/Applications: Fluorescence spectroscopy can be used in a wide range of applications from medical, to fraud detection, and food safety. For example, in medical applications, fluorescence is being used to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues. In the realm of fraud and counterfeit detection, fluorescent markers are being implanted in products ranging from fuel to…

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Absorbance Testing on Weed Killer Using Spectroscopy Instruments

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022

Roundup Experiment In this experiment, we tested low concentrations of glyphosate with a special variable path length dip probe with a narrow tip to measure the chemical’s absorbance. We tested the dip probe with a path length of 10mm and 5mm to also measure the limit of detection for the lower concentrations. As path length…

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Fluorescence of Anthocyanins in Blueberries

Posted on: September 13th, 2022

Background/Applications: Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments that are responsible for the red, purple, and blue coloring in fruits and vegetables. The colored anthocyanins are used as natural food colorants, and as potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various health benefits. Anthocyanins possess antibacterial and antioxidative qualities that have the ability to improve visual and neurological health and…

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Measuring Melanin and Hemoglobin levels of Skin Samples

Posted on: August 25th, 2022

Background/Applications: Human skin measurements apply to many industries and field studies with differing analyses in absorbance, transmission, and or reflectance. In this experiment, we tested the absorbance and reflectance of skin samples to analyze skin pigmentation and protein structures. The skin pigmentation studied in this experiment was melanin. Melanin is mainly located in the epidermis…

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Spectral Irradiance Using Avantes Solar Simulator

Posted on: July 28th, 2022

Conducted by: David Ademe, Avantes Inc. Theme: Solar Simulator/Irradiance Background/Applications: Spectral irradiance is the irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. The two forms have different dimensions: spectral irradiance of a frequency spectrum is measured in watts per…

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Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Using Raman Laser Spectroscopy

Posted on: June 28th, 2022

Conducted by: David Ademe (Applications Engineer), and Sara Beard (Chemistry Intern), Avantes Inc. Background/Applications: Indocyanine Green (ICG) is a powdered dye that is used for fluorescence imaging in a variety of medical applications. Indocyanine green emits fluorescence between 750 nm and 950 nm with maximum values of approximately 810 nm when dissolved in water. Compared…

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