ERIC Number: EJ943657
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Sep
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
To See the World in a Grain of Sand: Recognizing the Origin of Sand Specimens by Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Multivariate Exploratory Data Analysis
Pezzolo, Alessandra De Lorenzi
Journal of Chemical Education, v88 n9 p1304-1308 Sep 2011
The diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectra of sand samples exhibit features reflecting their composition. Basic multivariate analysis (MVA) can be used to effectively sort subsets of homogeneous specimens collected from nearby locations, as well as pointing out similarities in composition among sands of different origins. This experiment is designed for graduate students and provides a practical application of both solid-state spectroscopy and chemometrics. It is helpful to students acquainted with MVA and willing to develop some spectroscopic skills. Conversely, the technique can be used by students familiar with spectroscopy who wish to investigate multivariate exploratory data analysis. The spectra can also illustrate a discussion of the spectroscopy of minerals (ad-hoc flowcharts for the identification of the main constituents of sands through their spectral features are proposed). (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students, Spectroscopy, Multivariate Analysis, Data Analysis, Science Experiments, College Science, Chemistry, Science Process Skills, Science Laboratories
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A