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Instrumental Methods.
There are many instrumental methods
which can be used to identify elements and compounds.
These methods may be carried out automatically by machines
which give accurate and rapid results from
very small
samples.
Progress in electronics and computing
has helped the development of instrumental
methods.
Information from the results is used by people
looking at health,
drugs, the
environment,
astronomy,
alloys and
forensic science.
Forensic science is used to help the police and law
courts
in finding out the truth when someone
is accused of a crime.
Some machines separate a mixture
and
identify the different substances.
See Gas Chromatography and Mass
Spectrometry.
Some machines measure how a substance
can absorb or emit electromagnetic radiation.
Examples of instruments measuring absorption are
Infra-red
Spectroscopy and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy.
These methods are used to identify
compounds.
An example of an instrument measuring emission is
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy.
This method is used to identify
elements.
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