Chem26.1 ATQ Exp11 21718

J. A. Ines/Chemistry 26.
1 (2018) P a g e |1
Quantitative Determination of Copper (II) Concentration by

Spectrophotometry
J.A. Ines1
1National Institute of Geological Sciences, College of Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101
Performed: April 13, 2018 Submitted: April 20, 2018
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS absorbance of the standard and sample

solutions?
1. What are the significance of the addition
of ammonia to Cu (II) solutions. It is significant to scan over a wavelength range
for the calibration using the standard with the
Addition of ammonia will react with the Cu2+ in highest concentration so that the measurement
the solution which will form a copper-ammonia would have a greater resolution. This means
complex which has a more intense and deep that the maximum sensitivity of the instrument
blue color of solution compared to the copper for the standards considering that the solution
solution alone. with the greatest concentration would have the
highest absorbance thus will have the maximum
Cu2+ + 4NH3 -> [Cu(NH3)4]2+ (1) possible value in the set to be measured.
The copper-ammonia complex has a high 5. Why do we have to measure absorbance

absorbance value which makes the UV-Vis reading against reagent blank solutions?
spectrophotometer to analyse it efficiently.
The absorbance reading of the reagent blank
2. Why is the Beer-Lambert Law expressed in served as the reference for the other copper(II)-
terms of absorbance instead of ammonia solution. The absorbance reading of
transmittance? the reagent blank is the actual absorbance of
ammonia, with this, the absorbance of the
The Beer-Lambert Law is expressed in terms of changing concentration of Cu(II) can be
absorbance because of its direct relationship to measured by just subtracting the absorbance of
the concentration of the sample solution and the ammonia.
path of light or width of cuvette. This would, in
turn, result to a linear function that can be 6. What is the significance of the y-intercept
experimentally used for the computation of the of your calibration curve? Discuss its
respective values that are part of the equation of deviation from the theoretical value.
the Beer-Lambert law. Transmittance, however,
has an exponential relationship with The y-intercept is the absorption of ammonia
concentration. This is less convenient for when the solution does not contain Cu(II). The
graphical representation. expected/theoretical value is zero. The y-
intercept obtained from the best line of the
3. What are the limitations of the Beer’s values plotted in the calibration curve signifies
Law? the occurrence of an instrumental error. The
obtained y-intercept of 0.0001 may be caused ny
Beer’s Law is dependent on the absorbance and diffraction of light and absorption of light by the
concentration of a compound. UV-vis analysis cuvette.
has deviations in absorptivity coefficients at
high concentrations (>0.01M) due to 7. Cite other analytical applications of
electrostatic interactions between molecules in spectrophotometry.
close proximity. Scattering of light due to
particulates in the sample also limits the UV-vis The visible and UV spectrophotometer may be
analysis and Beer’s Law. Lastly, there are used to identify classes of compounds in both
changes in the refractive index occur when the the pure state and in biological preparations.
analyte concentration is high. This is done by plotting absorption spectrum
curves. It can also be used in quantitative
4. Why is it significant to scan over a biochemistry. A number of important classes of
wavelength range? Why is the analytical biological compounds may be measured semi-
wavelength used in the determination of the quantitatively using the UV-visible
J. A. Ines/Chemistry 26.1 (2018) P a g e |2
spectrophotometer. Other applications are

enzyme assay, molecular weight determination
and physiochemical studies.
8. What are the possible sources of errors

and their effect on the calculated
parameters? Rationalize.
Possible sources of errors may include improper

washing of cuvette. It should be washed thrice
with distilled water and twice with the solution.
The frosted side should be the one touched and
not the clear side. If fingerprints were traced in
the cuvette, a higher absorbance may lead. Other
errors may came from solution preparation.
REFERENCES
[1] Skoog, D. A.; West, D. M.; Holler, F. J.; Crouch,

S. R. (2016). Fundamentals of analytical
chemistry, 9th ed.; Brooks/Cole, Cengage
Learning: Hampshire
[2] Harvey, D. Modern Analytical Chemistry;
McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009

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J. A. Ines/Chemistry 26.

Quantitative Determination of Copper (II) Concentration by

Performed: April 13, 2018 Submitted: April 20, 2018

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS absorbance of the standard and sample

The copper-ammonia complex has a high 5. Why do we have to measure absorbance

spectrophotometer. Other applications are

8. What are the possible sources of errors

Possible sources of errors may include improper

[1] Skoog, D. A.; West, D. M.; Holler, F. J.; Crouch,

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