Beer's Law Lab - Guided Inquiry Activity A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines.



Title Beer's Law Lab - Guided Inquiry Activity
Description The learning goals of this guided-inquiry activity are as follows: Students will be able to, (a) Describe the relationship between solution concentration and the intensity of light that is absorbed/transmitted; (b) Explain how wavelength, solution color, and absorbance are related by comparing different solutions; and (c) Use a sketch of an absorption spectrum to describe the concept of maximum absorbance wavelength. This activity was originally developed for a recitation/tutorial which precedes a wet lab on FeNCS2+ spectroscopy. Instructors can edit the last question to refer a solution the students will use in a lab or demo, or use it as is to serve as an extension question even if no benchtop lab will be performed. There is a remote lesson that could be used by individual students if an in class setting is not available.
Subject Chemistry
Level Undergrad - Intro
Type Guided Activity, Lab, Remote Learning
Duration 60 minutes
Answers Included No
Language English
Keywords absorbance, beer's law, concentration, light, spectroscopy
Simulation(s) Beer's Law Lab (HTML5), Beer's Law Lab

Author(s) Susan Hendrickson, Julia Chamberlain
Contact Email phethelp@colorado.edu
School / Organization PhET
Date submitted 11/5/14
Date updated 4/6/20