Monday, August 20, 2007

pH METER PRINCIPLE OF WORKING

Introduction to pH

pH is a unit of measure which describes the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 14. The term pH is derived from "p", the mathematical symbol of the negative logarithm, and "H", the chemical symbol of Hydrogen. The formal definition of pH is the negative logarithm of the Hydrogen ion activity.

pH Measurement A rough indication of pH can be obtained using pH papers or indicators, which change color as the pH level varies. These indicators have limitations on their accuracy, and can be difficult to interpret correctly in colored or murky samples.
More accurate pH measurements are obtained with a pH meter. A pH measurement system consists of three parts: a pH measuring electrode, a reference electrode, and a high input impedance meter. The pH electrode can be thought of as a battery, with a voltage that varies with the pH of the measured solution. The pH measuring electrode is a hydrogen ion sensitive glass bulb, with a millivolt output that varies with the changes in the relative hydrogen ion concentration inside and outside of the bulb. The reference electrode output does not vary with the activity of the hydrogen ion. The pH electrode has very high internal resistance, making the voltage change with pH difficult to measure. The input impedance of the pH meter and leakage resistances are therefore important factors. The pH meter is basically a high impedance amplifier that accurately measures the minute electrode voltages and displays the results directly in pH units on either an analog or digital display. In some cases, voltages can also be read for special applications or for use with ion-selective or Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) electrodes.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING SITE FOR AN ANIMATION ON THE pH METER

http://www.chem.iastate.edu/group/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/flashfiles/acidbasepH/ph_meter.html

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Colorimeter (spectrophotometer)

Many tests are done on blood to detect diseases e.g. diabetes, hypercholesterolemia,etc.
A nice animation is shown on the site below:

http://virtuallaboratory.net/Focussed%20Labs/Dilution/section_05.html