Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

Spectrophotometry: Do I Care?

30DBC - 8th Jan - Prompt: On this day in 1935, the spectrophotometer was patented by A.C. Hardy. Have at it, you guys. What is it, where did it come from, what does it do, and why should you care? I'm not looking it up to see what it's all about, so let's hear your takes on it.

Oh, for the love of cheddar! Why the hell can't I just catch up? Whatever, I'm in cast and on drugs... I have reasonable excuses

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Firstly, to whoever came up with this prompt, how gutted are you? The use of this prompt last year would have been the spectrophotometer's 80th birthday. This year it's just its 81st. Boring! ... I jest.

Anyway, the spectrophotometer. How interesting!

*shrug*

Right, according to ChemWiki   Spectrophotometry is:

A method to measure how much a chemical substance absorbs light by measuring the intensity of light as a beam of light passes through sample solution. The basic principle is that each compound absorbs or transmits light over a certain range of wavelength. This measurement can also be used to measure the amount of a known chemical substance. Spectrophotometry is one of the most useful methods of quantitative analysis in various fields such as chemistry, physics, biochemistry, material and chemical engineering and clinical applications.

People often refer to me as a bit of a geek. But I am absolutely, in no possible way, a science geek. So,as I say, *shrug* That's what it is/does... now I just need to work out why I ought to care about this 81 (teehee) year old invention thingy.



apparently that's how it works. There's something to do with colour... I like colour... I care about colour

Sooo... If I understand this correctly, in this diagram, this is happening:

The light source shines on the sample.
A fraction of the light is transmitted or reflected from the sample
The light from the sample is directed to the entrance slit of the monochromator
The monochromator separates the wavelengths of light and focuses each of them onto the photodetector sequentially

Info from: Simple Wikipedia

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I am in no doubt that in the world of scientific geekery, this is a highly interesting and useful piece of equipment. But, to be perfectly frank, I really don't care. The colour thing is cool, granted. But I don't really understand why it is important - I'm sure it is - and I don't think I ever will.
Science is important, but it doesn't keep me awake at night. Just like most scientists are unlikely to stay awake wondering if they can write a poem about scotch eggs...

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This post has taken me forever to write because my foot has a mind of its own & has taken to trying to fight against the cast! It hurts and I've not been able to get comfortable. I've just given in and taken some diazapam to try and calm it the fuck down. I refuse to let this make me sleepy... I'm off to write the next post!