What Does the Fluorescence Spectrum of an Excimer Tell You About Its Thermodynamics?

lab
thermo
spectroscopy

Timing: This experiment takes two or three lab periods, each at least three hours long.

Learning objectives

Content Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • identify the components of a monomer and excimer energy diagram; relate energy diagram lines, minima and spacing to experimental spectra and thermodynamic quantities
  • use spectroscopic methods to quantitatively determine thermodynamic parameters and predict changes in spectra based on mathematical relationships
  • become familiar with the operation of a fluorometer and temperature control apparatus.

Process Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • explain the relationship between emission and excitation energies in fluorimetry.
  • choose experimental parameters that allow determination of thermodynamic parameters from spectroscopic data.
  • explain the relationship between spectral peaks, a pyrene monomer, and the formation of an excimer.
  • apply mathematical models to data; use graphical methods to determine values for ΔS0 and ΔH0 by identifying the dependent and independent variables in a linear relation and relate these variables to measurable quantities in the lab.
  • locating the desired properties from a linearized, graphed relationship using the slope and intercept.

Author

Alison Noble, Messiah College

Location

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jKKGwUqmw2_DBXfNO2kVv-oZw_hIIfEe/view?usp=sharing

An instructor’s manual is available.

License

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Status Reviewed

Reviewed