Our blog is continually updated with helpful educational information, advises, research and insights—all in the name of helping you level-up your color and appearance needs. Grab a drink and enjoy our stories!
You don't have to be a chocolatier to know that chocolate bar colors come in all different shades — dark, milk, white, and more. However, as customers expect a certain hue when they order dark vs. milk chocolate, chocolate manufacturers should take the time to ensure the color is just right.
High-quality water is essential for health and safety, but it can be challenging to determine its quality. Many of the particles in water are microscopic and should be removed for health compliance and hygiene reasons, such as nitrates and arsenic. Customers rightly equate water clarity with water quality, preferring clear, pure water.
Some people would rather have minerals in their water to prevent it from tasting flat, so you may have to add these in if they aren't already present. When you're measuring water color, striking that balance between turbidity and quality is critical.
Determine the Turbidity in Water
Turbidity is an umbrella term for a lack of transparency in water. When water appears unclear, tiny particles are present — these particles reflect light to your eye or elsewhere, reducing clarity. The less turbidity in water, the more light can penetrate it, giving it a clear appearance. It's important to note that some turbidity occurs naturally, and some minerals can be beneficial for taste. To maintain color consistency, you should measure the color of water throughout the production process.
Cola is one of the most popular drinks in the world, yet few people know where its flavor comes from, save for some research. Cola's color is different from many other soda colors and may change when you add or remove some ingredients. To ensure consistency and quality in your cola batches, it's important to know these five things:
A spectrophotometer is the best way to determine the color of fruit juices, as it measures color similar to how the human eye works. It's best to maximize objectivity by quantifying color through the use of industry standard color scales. When you measure the color of a juice using a spectrophotometer, the result is expressed in percentage or number form, eliminating room for error and eye fatigue from subjective methods.
Measure Fruit Juices Using the Right Equipment
Fruit juices can vary in opacity, meaning light won't travel through various beverages the same way. Use a reflectance spectrophotometer to measure opaque liquids like guava or orange juice accurately and employ a reflectance or transmittance spectrophotometer for translucent beverages like apple juice. Selecting the right tools helps you produce accurate results.
Through forensic spectrophotometry, analysts can intensely study crime scene evidence using the power of electromagnetic imaging. Spectrophotometry is the process of scientifically and objectively measuring color and radio wavelengths. It is more dependable than using human eyes, and it provides reproducible results on an easy-to-understand scale. With spectrophotometry, forensic examiners can distinguish between the chemical composition, material and even brand of a piece of evidence all by examining how the sample reflects wavelengths.
Spectrophotometry is a preferred method of forensic analysis due to its non-destructive analytical abilities. This process is versatile enough to analyze fibers, hairs and forensic materials such as bodily fluids, drugs and fingerprints. Spectrophotometers also have the advantage of not requiring sample preparation before a material can be analyzed.
What Is Spectrophotometry?
Spectrophotometry refers to the process of analyzing samples using electromagnetic waves. To test a sample, spectrophotometers test how the light refracts and reflects off a particular material and analyze its color, infrared and ultraviolet properties and more. Using spectrophotometry, you can tell the difference between similar samples of hairs, fibers, drugs, bodily fluids and fingerprints.
Spectrophotometry works by taking a sample and measuring the intensity of light when a beam passes through it. Since each compound transmits and absorbs light differently, it is possible to identify the true nature of a substance by analyzing this wavelength. Depending on the nature of the sample, it can be studied using either a UV-visible or infrared range spectrophotometer.
Spectrophotometry and spectroscopy are undoubtedly similar words — however, these terms are not interchangeable. While spectrophotometry and spectroscopy deal with related concepts, they focus on different scientific interactions and outcomes to gain varying insights.
Through this guide, you’ll learn about the difference between spectrophotometry and spectroscopy, their basic definitions and the instruments used in each science.
What Is Spectrophotometry?
Spectrophotometry operates on the principle that every chemical compound absorbs, reflects or transmits light over a specific wavelength spectrum. You can use this technique to determine the amount of light a chemical substance absorbs by measuring the intensity of the light as a beam passes through the sample.
The science of spectrophotometry allows for qualitative and quantitative analysis and is widely used across various industries, including chemistry, physics, biochemistry, biology and clinical studies.
Spectrometers or spectrophotometers are valuable tools companies use to ensure the quality and consistency of the products they make and sell. They can tell us if the oil is contaminated or if the fruit is ripe. They ensure that your favorite tomato ketchup is the same red, batch to batch. They provide the safety and efficacy of the medications you take. They are a valuable tool to ensure corporate brand integrity and that consistency and performance remain intact across an entire warehouse of products. To understand how spectrophotometers work, we need to comprehend the science of spectrophotometry.
Spectrophotometry is the science of how light interacts with matter. The objects we see daily are different forms of matter – solids, liquids, and gases. You may be surprised to learn that matter does not possess color. An apple appears red because of how light interacts with the chemical composition of the apple. When light strikes matter, some wavelengths are absorbed, and some are emitted. We see and perceive the emitted light as ‘color.’
Spectrophotometers mimic this visual observing condition, providing information about the color of materials that is meaningful and actionable, allowing companies to ensure color accuracy and consistency across their range of products and brand colors.
So, how does all this happen from a spectrophotometer, and how do we use it? The science behind this tool is robust and can be utilized in several different ways. To clarify, we’ve gathered information on how spectrophotometers contribute to the color management of various products and technologies, so let’s dive in.
What Is a Spectrophotometer?
You may remember from chemistry class that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, like microwaves and gamma rays. When we talk about the spectrum of light, we’re talking about a spectrum of energy, where different energy levels create what we perceive as other colors. The colors of the rainbow follow the progression of visible energy, with red being the lowest and violet being the highest. Materials that absorb all visible light appear black, while those that do the opposite appear white. In between those two are materials that emit certain light energies and absorb others, displaying specific colors.
A spectrophotometer is essentially a calibrated light counter.
“Spectro” refers to the fact that light is dispersed into individual wavelengths in the electromagnetic energy spectrum. Some of that energy is in the ultraviolet and visible spectrum, which spectrophotometers can read, while other spectrometers can measure infrared radiation.
“Photometer” measures light intensity at specific wavelengths and is scaled from 0 to 100. Zero equals total darkness, and 100 is perfect white. Some properties, like fluorescence, make it possible for this scale to go over 100, so most spectrophotometers can reach 150 or 200.
Spectrophotometers are used to measure the color of materials. Materials can be solid, liquid, opaque, translucent, or transparent. Different methods are used to measure these materials, depending on their form and transparency. Opaque materials are measured using reflectance spectrophotometers, which measure the amount of light reflected from a sample. In contrast, transparent materials use transmission spectrophotometers, which measure the amount of light that passes through the material. Regardless of the method used, all spectrophotometers share the same basic technology and optical design:
A controlled light source to illuminate the material.
A lens to collimate the light to the monochromator.
A monochromator that separates the light into its constituent color wavelengths.
A wavelength selector.
A detector that quantifies the light emitted from the sample.
