6.03 Calorimetry Lab

In the first part of the experiment, Part A, the standard solutions were prepared. As a whole, the experiment was conducted by four people, however, for Part A, the group was split in two to prepare the two different solutions. Calibrations curves were created for the standard solutions of both Red 40 and Blue 1. Each solution was treated with a serial 2-fold dilution to gain different concentrations of each solution.

The serial 2-fold dilution were done with a volumetric pipette, its pump, and 10 mL volumetric flasks. Eight different solutions were produced, half of which came from Red 40 and the other half, from Blue 1. These different concentrated solutions were placed in a 10 mL volumetric flask, each labelled with either R for Red 40

Next, about 10 mL of both solutions, Red 40 and Blue 1, were added to a small beaker. The concentration of the stock solution were recorded, 52.1 ppm for Red 40 and 16.6 ppm for Blue 1. Then, using the volumetric pipette, 5 mL of each solution was transferred into a 10 mL volumetric flask, labelled either R1 or B1. Deionized water was added into the flask using a pipette until the solution level reached a line which indicated 10 mL. A cap for the flask was inserted and the flask was invented a few times to completely mix the solution. Then, the volumetric pipette was rinsed with fresh deionized water and

The absorbance and the maximum wavelength of all eight standard solutions were determined using the same spectrophotometer in this section. First, approximately 3 mL of each solution was added into a cuvette using a plastic pipette. The solution was added until the level reached the frosty part of the cuvette and any bubbles were dislodged by gently tapping the cuvette against a hard surface. Then, a Kimwipe was used to clean the exterior of the cuvette. Once cleaned, the cuvette was transported by only holding the top edges. The cuvette was placed in the spectrophotometer with the arrows, on both the cuvette and the SpectroVis, facing the same side. After the recording, the cuvette was removed from the SpectroVis and the content was poured back into the original volumetric flask. The absorbance as well as the maximum wavelength of each solution was recorded in Table 3 and