What is atomic emission spectroscopy?
Atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) is an analytical technique that measures the energy of atoms in the sample. The central point of this method is to add energy to the sample to see what happens to the atoms that are already present. Individual elements produce slightly different light energy rays after further energy temporarily changes the atom. The reader part of the atomic emission spectroscopic machine recognizes light energy from the sample and the computer part of the machine calculates the concentration of individual elements in the sample from the wavelength of the incoming light.
Every element in the world, its simplest, is the only atom, although many of them occur in nature when more atoms stuck together or in combination with other elements. Atoms are small particles that usually have small particles called protons and neutrons stuck together in the central core known as the core. Even smaller particles called electrons circle the core continuously.
Electron is moving in a specific way of wheelsem cores. Like the Hula hoops of different diameters, electrons are only circled in specific diameters, with some of the orbitals in the smaller diameter and some on larger orbitals. However, each electron can jump into a higher orbital if enough energy energy is present.
AES analysis samples often contain, for example, mixtures of elements and compounds such as soil. However, the atomic emission spectroscopy machine can only read individual atoms. Therefore, when the analyst prepares a sample for testing AES, it must divide all compound molecules into free atoms. The analyst usually changes the sample to aerosol by adding energy from sources such as furnaces, lasers or sparks.
Extra energy from the source that breaks the sample is also the energy that affects electrons in sample elements. With extra energy, electrons jump into higher orbitals. When after the energy scattering uThey fall, the energy they deposited from the source emitted as light photons. Photons are like small energy packets.
Each machine of spectroscopy has a detector that recognizes the presence of energy and transfers this information to a computer program that converts raw data into clearer descriptions. In the case of the AES machine, the detector reads the presence and intensity of individual photon. The intensity concerns the wavelength of the light and each element present in the sample has a distinctive field of photons that would cause specific wavelengths. Therefore, the machine can find out which elements and how many of them are present in each sample.
Another method of analysis of the elemental samples is atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS.) This works on the same principles of AES, but instead of reading the emitted light from the disturbed sample, the machine reads the amount of light energy that absorbs the sample as indication of the type and amount of electrons in the sample. AAS is suitable for gas samples.