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Proposal Summary
Project Director’s Name: Maryann Mensi Sorey
Project Title: Analysis of Food Dye Concentration with a Spectrophotometer Budget: $2,492.21
Spectroscopic analysis of solutes is a general, versatile and robust method of analyzing the concentration of a wide variety of solutes. The ability of a chemical species to absorb electromagnetic radiation in proportion to the specie’s concentration has made this method widely used in industrial analysis and environmental monitoring.
The present proposal concerns the acquisition of a spectrophotometer and volumetric glassware to support the pedagogic goal of equipping the chemistry lab to analyze the concentrations of food dyes in drinks and candies typically consumed by young people. This hands-on laboratory investigation will utilize the fundamental technique of constructing a standard calibration curve (a plot of the dependant variable vs. the independent variable, absorbance and concentration respectively in this case) and will teach students of this high-needs school this valuable tool which will enable them to apply this tool to research.
Once this equipment is obtained, Thus-and-Such School will be able to extend its ability to apply spectroscopic analysis to local environmental research problems.