A spectrophotometer is a laboratory instrument used to measure the intensity of light absorbed or transmitted by a sample. It is commonly used in various scientific fields such as chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology for the quantitative analysis of biological and chemical samples.
The spectrophotometer works by shining a beam of light through a sample and measuring the intensity of the light that passes through the sample. The amount of light absorbed or transmitted by the sample is then calculated by comparing the intensity of the incident light with the intensity of the light that emerges from the sample. This data can be used to determine the concentration of a substance in the sample or to identify the presence of certain compounds in the sample.
Spectrophotometers come in a variety of types, including UV-Vis, infrared, and fluorescence spectrophotometers, each of which is designed for specific applications. UV-Vis spectrophotometers, for example, are commonly used to measure the absorption or transmission of light in the ultraviolet and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, while infrared spectrophotometers are used to study the vibrational modes of molecules.
Fluorescence spectrophotometers, on the other hand, are used to measure the emission of light from fluorescent molecules and can be used to detect and quantify specific biomolecules in a sample.