What is flame emission spectroscopy (flame photometry) used for?

Identifying metal ions in solution, and measuring their concentration.

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When performing flame emission spectroscopy (flame photometry), what does the intensity of a line spectrum indicate?

The concentration of a given metal ion in the solution.

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Outline the process for carrying out flame emission spectroscopy (flame photometry).

  1. The solution containing metal ions is heated until they emit light.
  2. The light is detected by a spectroscope which can distinguish between the individual wavelengths of light emitted.
  3. As each metal ion emits a unique combination of wavelengths, it will produce a unique line spectrum.
  4. This allows us to identify the unknown metal cation by comparing its line spectrum to those of known metal cations in a data bank.

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What are the 3 advantages of using instrumental method instead of chemical tests?

  1. The instrumental method is very quick.  
  2. The instrumental method is very accurate.
  3. The instrumental method is very sensitive.

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What are the 3 disadvantages of using instrumental methods over chemical tests?

  1. The instrumental method is expensive.
  2. The instrumental method requires specialist training.
  3. The instrumental method often requires a known comparison to check your reading against.

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