Identifying Lines in the Solar Spectrum Lab Write-Up

Problem: The purpose of the lab was to identify lines of the solar system using Fraunhofer lines.

Hypothesis: As this lab was primarily data collection there was not much to hypothesize.

Procedure: We used a picture we were provided with to pinpoint the pixel location of two separate lines and found the pixel distance between the two. From there we used the table we were provided with to find the distance in nanometers and used nm/pixels to establish a scale factor. Our next step was to identify unknown lines along the same spectrum. We first chose one line to serve as our reference point and determined the pixel location and the given wavelength in nanometers. We then found the pixel location of each line and determined the distance between that line and the reference point. Next, we multiplied the pixel distance by our previously calculated scale factor to get the wavelength in nanometers of each element. From this point we were able to use the wavelength to determine the element name of each unknown line.

Data: Can be seen on the hardcopy of the lab that will be turned in on the day of the test.

Calculations: Can be seen on the hardcopy of the lab that will be turned in on the day of the test.

Conclusions: We were able to determine some of the different elements in the solar spectrum however our calculations could not be entirely accurate. Because we were using unsteady hands and trying to pinpoint small lines there is some error in our pixel determination which is the foundation on which all other questions and calculations are based. We saw this error come into play when we used the calculated wavelength to determine the name of the element but it was obvious that our calculations were off a bit because none of the elements had the exact wavelength that we calculated so we had to round our numbers to the element with the closest wavelength. Error aside, it was interesting to see how we could use something as simple as a picture on a computer screen to determine different elements and wavelengths.