Fabrication and Applications of a Novel and Multi-Feature Spectroscope

• Main Authors: Culaba, Ivan B, Maquiling, Joel T, Delos Santos, Ramon M
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2023
• Subjects: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Physics
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/physics-faculty-pubs/152; https://drive.google.com/file/d/14MsBeZErCsr2bX9ke2Faxq6rMHzmb0Vx/view?usp=sharing
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

A spectroscope is an optical device that can stimulate student's interest in the visible light's constituent colors. This educational tool is conventionally used to qualitatively observe the emission spectra of various light sources, which can serve as a springboard to understanding the fundamentals of spectroscopy, the wave nature of light, and the orbital theory of atoms and molecules. This research builds on the functionality and accessibility of a simple spectroscope through the utilization of low-cost readily available materials, and more importantly, improvisation via the inclusion of a magnetic sheet mounted on the entrance slit cover. The magnetic sheet was employed to vary the slit width, to add absorption filters, and to mount a cuvette containing liquid samples. Furthermore, this sheet allowed the simultaneous observation of the emission spectrum of a light source and the transmission or absorption spectrum of the samples. The breadth of data from a variety of activities involving spectra was also made possible by a mobile phone camera as a recording device. In this study, the novel features strengthen the interconnectedness of various concepts in introductory spectroscopy. This elucidates the experimental and theoretical base of STEM Education in domains such as optics and photonics, and molecular spectroscopy.