JCE Online Journal of Chemical Education
 | Subscriptions  | Software Orders  | Support  | Contributors  | Advertisers  | 

JCE Print
   Current Issue
 Previous Issues
 Supplements
 Search JCE Index

JCE Digital Library
   DigiDemos
 QBank
 SymMath
 WebWare

JCE Software
   Latest Releases
 Software & Video
 Downloads
 Support

Only@JCE Online
   JCE Online Store
 JCE HS CLIC
 JCE Discussion Forums
   Biographical Snapshots
 ChemEd Resource Shelf
 Featured Molecules
 Hal's Picks
 Project Chemlab
 Reviewed WWW Sites
 "Web-Ed" Articles

About JCE
   Features
 Publications
 Operations
 Outreach
 Contact Us


  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > December  >
In the Laboratory
Turbidimetric Analysis of Water and Wastewater Samples Using a Spectrofluorimeter
Jason J. Evans
Chemistry Department, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896
Cover
December 2000
Vol. 77 No. 12
p. 1609
Abstract
As student interest in environmental science grows, many colleges and universities are developing new courses in environmental chemistry. Environmental analysis in the "real world" has become increasingly instrumental, and it is important to introduce students to the instruments and procedures that are commonly used in environmental laboratories. Turbidimetric analysis of water and wastewater is ordinarily performed in environmental laboratories using a nephelometer. This experiment illustrates that a spectrofluorimeter can be successfully employed for these types of analysis. Samples from various stages of the water and wastewater treatment processes were collected from the Carlisle Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants. The students in our Environmental Chemistry laboratory used the spectrofluorimeter to measure the scattering intensity from the samples and from a series of formazine standards. The standard curve produced from their data gave a correlation coefficient of .999, and the detection limit was 0.03 Standard Turbidity Units, which is sufficient to obtain meaningful data on most water samples. This experiment was an excellent supplement to lecture material covering water and wastewater treatment because the students were able to monitor the level of suspended particulates in the water as it makes its way through the treatment plants.
Supplement
The lab handout used for this experiment is available.
*  Contents JCE2000p1609W.doc (Microsoft Word)
*  Download
JCE2000p1609W.pdf

JCE2000p1609W.sit

JCE2000p1609W.zip
More Information
*  Citation
 Evans, Jason J. J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 1609.
*  Keywords
 Analytical Chemistry; Colloids; Environmental Chemistry; Fluorescence Spectrometry; Instrumental Methods; Laboratory Instruction; Water / Water Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 November 3, 2000
August 31, 2005
<< Previous Article Table of Contents Next Article >>
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > December  > Page 1609


Subscriptions
 Subscription Info
 Order Forms

JCE HS CLIC

Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
 JCE HS CLIC

Contributions Welcome
JCE welcomes your submission
 Contributors' Corner

Advertisers
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
 Recent Advertisers

Be An Ambassador
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.
 Outreach with JCE

Comments to
jceonline@chem.wisc.edu		 Copyright © Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society.
All rights reserved.