Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Perkin-Elmer Atomic Absorption Spectrometer w/
Graphite Furnace

The atomic absorption spectrometer is an instrument used by students taking laboratory courses in quantitative analysis, instrumental analysis and sometimes general chemistry. This instrument is used to measure small concentrations of analytes, typically metals such as nickel, lead, copper, chromium, zinc, and cadmium. These metals can be found in environmental samples such as river water in concentrations around parts per million to parts per billion. The spectrometer measures these metals by ionizing a sample by flame or graphite furnace and measuring the absorbance of those atoms at a specific wavelength characteristic to the analyte in question. The concentration of the analyte is determined by the light absorption based on Beer’s Law.