Analysis Techniques Flashcards
where do salts naturally come from?
Come from minerals, heavy metals and organometallic substances
where do salts come from human activity?
Pollution
From mining, agriculture, domestic sources and sewage treatment plants
what are heavy metals?
Heavy metals: metals with density that have a toxic effect on living organisms.
cadmium, lead, copper, chromium and mercury.
Some metalloids (arsenic) have high toxicity so are included.
how are heavy metals released and what happens with them?
Can be released from human activities
Not biodegradable so they just accumulate.
Bioaccumulation: build up of heavy metals in high-order predators.
what are organometallic compounds?
Source of heavy metals
Have at least one carbon-metal bond
Synthetic substances that are used as catalysts or reagents
what is hard water? what is it caused by?
Water needs a lot of soap to lather
Hardness is caused by metals like calcium, magnesium and iron
Ingredient in soap is sodium stearate- when dissolved it acts as a dirt remover
Metal ions in hard water react with stearate to form a precipitate, removing stearate ions and reducing lather
what qualities of water are monitored? (5)
Concentration of ions such as sodium, calcium, potassium, iron (III), chlorine, sulphate and hydrogen carbonate
Turbidity: cloudiness of water due to suspended salts
pH
Hardness
Nutrients like nitrates
how is salinity measured? how does EC change? what measurement does it give? when is it measured?
Tested by measuring electrical conductivity (EC) of a sample
Pure water is a poor conductor (few ions)
As salinity increases, conductivity increases
Gives a measure of total dissolved salts
Conductivity is measured in microsiemens per centimetre mS cm^-1
25 degrees
what is salinity called and how is it measured?
When discussing water quality, salinity is called total dissolved salts (TDS)
TDS (mg L-1) = EC(in mS cm-1) x Kc
Kc is 0.6 in Victoria
what is gravimetric analysis?
Quantitative measure
Determines the mass of salt in a water sample
Forms a precipitate used to analyse silver ions, calcium ions and lead ions
what is stoichiometry? what are mole ratios? why do they change in reactions?
Calculations that concern amounts (number of moles)
Law of Conservation of Mass states that the mass must be conserved (balanced equation).
Mole products may not equal mole reactants
The number of moles is not conserved in a reaction
Coefficients in equations are the mole ratios
what are the steps of stoichiometry?
Balance equation Convert known masses to moles Use the equation to set up mole ratios use the mole ratios to calculate the number of moles of the desired reactant or product Convert moles back to grams if needed
how does gravimetric analysis work? what is an analyte? what are its advantages and disadvantages?
uses precipitation reactions to determine the mass of salts in solutions.
The precipitate allows one ion of the salt to be separated.
Analyte: chemical of interest
Cheap but slow, less accurate, less sensitive and prone to inference by other compounds
what are the steps of gravimetric analysis?
Prepare sample solution (dissolve)
Add precipitation solution in excess to cause complete precipitation
Collect the precipitate by filtration and wash to make sure no soluble components are trapped
Dry- usually heated cooled and weighted until mass is constant
what are the qualities of a good precipitate?
Known formula Low solubility (want most out of solution) Stable when heated (not to decompose into other substances) Be the product of one reaction (other ions should not interfere)
what do calculations involving excess reactants work? what should be used and what do the reagents determine?
One that is used up: limiting reagent
One that is left over: in excess
Identify the excess and limiting reagents and only use the limiting reagent in calculations
Limiting reagent determines the number of products formed
how do substances appear coloured? what is the rule for this?
When a substance absorbs light, it appears coloured.
Colour observed is not the same as colour absorbed.
Colour seen is reflected.
Observed colour and absorbed colours are complimentary.
ROYGBV
GBVROY
what do colorimeters and UV-visible Spectrophotometers determine?
Colorimeter and UV-Visible Spectrophotometer determine concentration by measuring absorbance of radiation in the visible or UV region of the spectrum.
The more concentrated, the more radiation absorbed.
what is colorimetry? how is it preformed?
Measures the intensity of a colour in a sample.
If not coloured, a chemical is added to create colour.
The filter selects a light of an appropriate colour that will be strongly absorbed by the solution.
what are calibration curves? what is a standard solution?
Determine concentration of a substance using standard solutions and their absorbances plotted on a graph.
Standard solution: accurately known concentration.
what is UV Visible Spectroscopy? how is it done?
Uses a monochromator rather than a filter to select light of exact wavelength.
More sophisticated than colorimetry.
A graph is made about which shows where absorbance is maximum (wavelength).
Then use this wavelength to determine absorbance of standard solutions to make a calibration curve.
what are the steps in colorimetry and spectroscopy?
Metal is coloured if needed
A wavelength or filter is used (wavelength most strongly absorbed)
Absorbance for standard solutions is measured
Calibration curve
Absorbance of sample is measured and concentration is determined from calibration curve
Any dilutions are accounted for
what are the uses for colorimetry and UV-Visible Spectrophotometers?
Concentration of urine Blood sugar levels Cholesterol levels Haemoglobin in blood Levels of phosphate in water
how do flame tests work?
Metals emit a colour when heated
Electrons excite to higher levels if given energy
Then it returns, releasing energy as light (unstable)
Energy released corresponds to electron shells so electron shells make a mix of colours
Ionic compounds with the same metal ion have similar colours
Electrons can only go to a shell if they have absorbed enough (no half way)
what are disadvantages of flame tests?
Some metals have no colour
Some metals have similar colours
Cannot determine amount
Sample is destroyed
how is atomic emission spectroscopy preformed? what does it show? what form of analysis is it?
Using a hotter flame and passing light through a prism mean more elements can be tested
Emission spectra are unique for elements (unique energy with electrons)
coloured lines on a black background
Each line is radiation of a specific wavelength and energy equal to the difference in energy between electron levels
Qualitative form of analysis
what is atomic absorption spectroscopy?
Analyses light absorbed
Qualitative and quantitative (presence and concentration of metal ions) black lines on a coloured background