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Colorimetry

  • Chapter
Modern Methods of Geochemical Analysis

Part of the book series: Monographs in Geoscience ((MOGEO))

Abstract

This chapter consists of a discussion of the fundamental principles, techniques, and methods involved in colorimetric analysis. For many years chemical colorimetry has been a leading analytical method for the determination of small amounts of inorganic constituents, i.e., when the percentage of the desired constituent is in the 10-5–5% by weight concentration range. The determination of elements in geological samples based on the intensity of colored solutions obtained by appropriate chemical treatment of these materials is a well-established quantitative method that is frequently used in geochemical analysis. In addition to the necessity of developing a suitable colored solution, one also has to find a suitable means of relating color intensity to the concentration of a specific element. In the first one-third of the 20th century it was common analytical practice to use the human eye to compare the color intensities of solutions of known concentration with those of similar solutions of unknown concentration. Visual colorimetry is now used only to a very limited extent. Presently, modern photoelectric instrumentation has replaced the visual color comparators, with their inherent limitations involving possible defective visual acuity and human judgement, and provides a more reliable, discriminate, and sensitive means of relating color intensity to concentration. In fact, modern instrumentation has permitted the extension of the spectrophotometric method to the measurement of the absorptivity of solutions in regions of the electromagnetic spectrum not discernible to the human eye.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Toledo University, Toledo, Ohio, USA

    Gordon A. Parker

  2. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA

    D. F. Boltz

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  1. Activation Analysis Research Laboratory, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Richard E. Wainerdi (Associate Dean of Engineering, and Head) (Associate Dean of Engineering, and Head)

  2. Scientific Advisory Council, Pretoria, South Africa

    Ernst A. Uken

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Parker, G.A., Boltz, D.F. (1971). Colorimetry. In: Wainerdi, R.E., Uken, E.A. (eds) Modern Methods of Geochemical Analysis. Monographs in Geoscience. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1830-9_5

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