Vernier Spectrometer
Imagine taking less than five minutes to set up and calibrate a spectrophotometer. Imagine measuring the absorbance of a solution and viewing a graph of the absorbance spectrum in a fraction of a second. Imagine preparing to conduct a Beer's law lab, a kinetics experiment, or measuring the emission spectra of discharge tubes with a click of a button. Intriguing, right? The new Vernier Spectrometer, powered by Ocean Optics™, can do all this and more. This truly portable spectrometer offers one-step calibration over its entire range of sensitivity (380 - 950 nm), eliminating the need to continually insert blanks. The 2 nm resolution is perfect for measuring the absorption spectrum of an aqueous solution over the visible spectrum, and can do it in a fraction of a second. The Vernier Spectrometer comes with an open cuvette holder with a built-in light source, allowing access to the sample during testing. It is powered through a USB connection to your computer and is controlled by our award-winning Logger Pro 3 software (version 3.4.5 required).
Vernier Spectrometer | Order Code V-SPEC | $1199
Visible Spectra of Chemical Dyes
Creating the absorption spectrum of an aqueous sample is easy and fast with the new Vernier Spectrometer. In this experiment, Visible Spectra of Chemical Dyes, students measure and analyze the visible light absorbance spectrum of various samples of aqueous food dye mixtures. This activity is a great way to introduce spectral analysis, because it helps students understand the relationship between the color of the solution and the ideal wavelength they should use to measure variations in absorption. Download this free sample activity.
Physics Instructors Record Emission Spectra of Common Light Sources
Our new Red Tide Emissions Spectrometer offers much of interest to physics instructors. This unit records the emission spectrum of many common light sources with 1 nm resolution. For example, if you direct the spectrometer at the light from a common gas discharge source, such as helium, you'll see the emission lines as sharp peaks on an intensity vs. wavelength graph. It's convenient to use the optical fiber assembly (sold separately) to direct light into the spectrometer. Since the spectrum is acquired in less than a second, analyzing the light from many sources is quick and fascinating. Here are two samples:
You can also use the Red Tide Emissions Spectrometer to do remote detective work. At the last AAPT meeting in Anchorage, we had a small mercury discharge tube in the booth. The exhibit hall had intense lights on the ceiling, and by directing the fiber at the lights and comparing to the known mercury spectrum, it was clear that the hall was illuminated by mercury discharge lamps.
Red Tide Emissions Spectrometer | Order Code ESRT-VIS | $1049
Optical Fiber | Order Code VIS-NIR | $125