Analysis 1

Question 1

Explain why the finger print region is ignored / how it can be used

Answer 1

The finger print region is below 1500cm^-1 and it is ignored because there are too many vibrations that are unique to each compound. This can be compared to a database to accurately determine the compound but for now is useless to us as it is too complex to interpret.

Question 3

Explain the uses for infrared spectroscopy

Answer 3

1) monitoring gases that cause air pollution
2) monitoring unsaturation in polymerisation
3) breath analysers to measure ethanol level

Question 4

State the 3 uses of mass spectroscopy

Answer 4

Technique used to determine isotopic abundances, identify elements, monitor levels of environmental pollution and deduce the structure of organic compounds. This is done by looking at peaks, the molecular ion peak and identifying fragmentation

Question 5

Explain what the M+ peak is

Answer 5

The M+ peak is the molecular ion peak which is the highest m/z value of a compound. It is the total Mr of the compound and so can be used to determine the molecular formula

Question 6

Explain how infrared spectroscopy works

Answer 6

Infrared causes covalent bonds to vibrate more and absorb energy. The energy a bond absorbs is seen as peaks on a graph. These peaks occur at different wavenumbers and different sizes depending on the bond present. This is used to identify the types of bonds present in a compound.