IIT Mandi

IC130 Applied Chemistry for Engineers

Dr. P.C. Ravikumar

Lecture 1
Aug. 12, 2015
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Spectroscopy
Introduction
Spectroscopy is defined as the study of interaction of EM Waves/light with matter
Spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to
its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded to comprise any
interaction with radiative energy as a function of its wavelength or freq.
White Light or Day light is an electromagnetic wave

Snells Law of refraction

Combination of refraction and reflection

http://www.canon.com/technology/s_labo/light/001/02.html
http://www.canon.com/technology/s_labo/light/001/02.html
http://cnx.org/contents/031da8d3-b525-429c-80cf-6c8ed997733a@8.9/Dispersion-The-Rainbow-and-Pri

Spectroscopy
Introduction
Daily observations of color can be related to spectroscopy.
Neon lighting is a direct application of atomic spectroscopy. Neon and
other noble gases have characteristic emission frequencies (colors).
Neon lamps use collision of electrons with the gas to excite these
emissions.

Inks, dyes and paints include chemical compounds selected for their
spectral characteristics in order to generate specific colors.
Rayleigh scattering is a spectroscopic scattering phenomenon that
accounts for the color of the sky.
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Spectroscopy
Introduction
Rayleigh scattering is a spectroscopic scattering phenomenon that
accounts for the blue color of the sky.

http://www.canon.com/technology/s_labo/light/001/01.html

Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a form of energy emitted and absorbed by
charged particles which exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space.
EMR has both electric and magnetic field components, which stand in a fixed
ratio of intensity to each other, and which oscillate in phase perpendicular to
each other and perpendicular to the direction of energy and wave propagation.

EMR is considered to be produced when charged particles are accelerated by

forces acting on them. Electrons are responsible for emission of most EMR
because they have low mass, and therefore are easily accelerated by a variety
of mechanisms.

www.astronomynotes.com,
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http://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Radiation.html

Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation
EMR is classified according to the frequency of its wave.
The electromagnetic spectrum, in order of increasing frequency and decreasing
wavelength, consists of radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light,
ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays.
The eyes of various organisms sense a relatively small range of frequencies of
EMR called the visible spectrum or light.

Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation
The electromagnetic spectrum extends from
below the low frequencies used for modern radio
communication to gamma radiation at the shortwavelength (high-frequency) end, thereby covering
wavelengths from thousands of km down to a
fraction of the size of an atom.
The photon is the quantum of EMR and is the
basic unit or constituent of all forms of EMR. The
quantum nature of light becomes more apparent at
high frequencies (or high photon energy). Such
photons behave more like particles than lowerfrequency photons.
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Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation short history
Before 18th centaury visible light was the only part of Electromagnetic spectrum
Ancient Greeks light travelled in straight lines studied its properties (reflection
and refraction)
During the 16th and 17th centauries conflicting theories wave or particle?
In 1800, William Hershel discovered infrared radiation, while studying the
temperature of different colors by moving a thermometer through light split by a
prism. He noticed that the highest temperature was beyond red. He theorized that
this temperature change was due to "calorific rays" which would be in effect a type of
light ray that could not be seen.
In 1801, Johann Ritter worked at the other end of the spectrum and noticed what he
called "chemical rays" (invisible light rays that induced certain chemical reactions)
that behaved similar to visible violet light rays, but were beyond them in the
spectrum. They were later renamed ultraviolet radiation.

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Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation short history
Electromagnetic radiation had been first linked to electromagnetism in 1845, when
Michael Faraday noticed that the polarization of light traveling through a transparent
material responded to a magnetic field (Faraday effect).
During the 1860s James Maxwell developed four partial differential equations for
the electromagnetic field. Maxwell's equations predicted an infinite number of
frequencies of electromagnetic waves, all traveling at the speed of light. This was the
first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
In 1886, Heinrich Hertz built an apparatus to generate and detect what we now call
radio waves. In a later experiment, Hertz similarly produced and measured the
properties of microwaves. These new types of waves paved the way for inventions
such as the wireless telegraph and the radio.

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Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation short history
In 1895, Wilhelm Rntgen noticed a new type of radiation emitted during an
experiment with an evacuated tube subjected to a high voltage. He called these
radiations X-rays and found that they were able to travel through parts of the human
body but were reflected or stopped by denser matter such as bones. Soon, many
uses were found for them in the field of medicine.
In 1900, Paul Villard was studying the radioactive emissions of radium when he
identified a new type of radiation that he first thought consisted of particles similar to
known alpha and beta particles, but with the power of being far more penetrating
than either. In 1903, Ernest Rutherford named them as gamma rays when the
realized that they were fundamentally different from charged alpha and beta rays. He
also found that gamma rays were similar to x-rays, but with shorter wavelengths and
higher frequencies.
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Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation
Most parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are used in science for spectroscopic
and other probing interactions to study and characterize matter
Electromagnetic waves are typically described by any of the following three
physical properties: the frequency , wavelength , or photon energy E.
E = h Here, = c/

where:
c = 3 x 108 m/s is the speed of light in vacuum and
h = 6.626 1034 J s is Planck's constant.
The behavior of EMR depends on its wavelength. When EMR interacts with single
atoms and molecules, its behavior also depends on the amount of energy per
quantum (photon) it carries.

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Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic radiation
EMR interacts with matter in different ways in different parts of the spectrum.
Region of the spectrum

Main interactions with matter

Radio

Collective oscillation of charge carriers in bulk material

(plasma oscillation). An example would be the
oscillatory travels of the electrons in an antenna.

Microwave through far infrared

Plasma oscillation, molecular rotation

Near infrared

Molecular vibration, plasma oscillation (in metals only)

Visible

Molecular electron excitation (including pigment

molecules found in the human retina), plasma
oscillations (in metals only)

Ultraviolet

Excitation of molecular and atomic valence electrons,

including ejection of the electrons (photoelectric effect)

X-rays

Excitation and ejection of core atomic electrons,

Compton scattering (for low atomic numbers)

Gamma rays

Energetic ejection of core electrons in heavy elements,

Compton scattering (for all atomic numbers), excitation
of atomic nuclei, including dissociation of nuclei

High-energy gamma rays

Creation of particle-antiparticle pairs. At very high

energies a single photon can create a shower of highenergy particles and antiparticles upon interaction with
matter.
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Disclaimer
The pictures and contents in this presentation were taken
from various internet sources and text books, primarily for
the purpose of better understanding and effective
propagation of scientific knowledge. Wherever possible
due references was given to the original source, and I do
not take any credit whatsoever. There is no commercial
interest attached with this document.
This document is strictly for internal use and should
not be under any circumstances shared in any open
source forum.

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